I  \  S-  'M’. 


TWENTY 

YEARS 


m 


Porto  Rico 


By 

ARTHUR  JAMES 


) 


■* 


1. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/twentyyearsinporOOjame 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN 
PORTO  RICO 


A  RECORD  OF  PRESBYTERIAN  MISSIONARY 
WORK  SINCE  THE  AMERICAN 
OCCUPATION 


By 

ARTHUR  JAMES,  M.A.,  B.D. 


EDUCATIONAL  WORK 

Board  of  Home  Missions,  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U,  S.  A. 
156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Chapter  1.  Some  Personal  Characteristics . Page  9 

“  II.  The  Social  Life  .  “  16 

“  III.  Religious  Conditions .  “  26 

“  IV.  Medical  Missions  .  “  36 

“  V.  Educational  and  Community  Work.  ...  “  43 

“  VI.  Evangelistic  Missions  .  “  55 


I 


FOREWORD 

ANGLO-SAXONS  and  Latins  have  much  to  learn  from 
each  other  and  much  to  contribute  to  one  another’s 
happiness.  In  Porta  Rico  the  two  races  are  meeting 
under  the  American  flag  and  there  we  have  an  exceptional  op¬ 
portunity  to  learn  by  actual  contact  those  traits  in  which  the 
Latins  excel  and  in  turn  to  bring  to  the  Porto  Ricans  what 
is  best  in  our  American  civilization,  especially  our  religion, 
our  education  and  our  science.  In  the  latter  service  Mr.  James, 
the  author  of  this  booklet,  has  given  ten  years  of  his  life  since 
graduating  from  Yale.  He  has  come  to  have  a  genuine  affec¬ 
tion  for  the  Porto  Ricans  and  has  made  his  understanding  and 
appreciation  of  them  the  basis  of  a  successful  ministry.  He 
sets  down  here  for  the  benefit  of  us  who  live  in  the  “States,” 
his  interpretation  of  the  Porto  Ricans  in  order  that  we  may 
have  an  understanding  of  their  personal  characteristics  and 
their  social  and  religious  life.  He  has  gained  a  clear  vision  of 
their  needs  as  well  as  of  their  attainments  and  he  has  made 
these  needs  a  very  real  challenge  to  all  American  Christians 
interested  in  the  cooperative  task  of  building  a  great  Christian 
democracy. 

Mr.  James  has  the  happy  faculty  of  being  able  to  say  much 
in  few  words  and  as  a  result  it  is  possible  for  the  reader  to 
obtain,  in  remarkably  brief  compass,  an  understanding  of 
Porto  Ricans  and  their  needs  and  what  the  Presbyterian  Church 
is  doing  to  meet  these  needs. 


Fred  Eastman 


A  FEW  FACTS  ABOUT 
PORTO  RICO 


SIZE  AND 
POPULATION; 

120  miles  long:  by  36  miles  broad. 

1920  census — 1,300,000  population —  American  citi¬ 
zens 

80  per  cent  live  in  the  country. 

60  per  cent  white — 35  per  cent  mulatto— 5  per  cent 
negro. 

EDUCATIONAL 

STATE: 

66  per  cent  illiterate. 

41  per  cent  only  of  children  of  school  age  are  in 
school. 

ECONOMIC 

CONDITIONS: 

Per  capita  wealth  eleven  times  less  than  Conti¬ 
nental  U.  S.  (Pre-war  figures). 

15  per  cent  of  population  have  the  entire  wealth. 

DEATH  BATE 
AND 
DISEASE: 

Death  rate  twice  as  high  as  Continental  U.  S. 

Half  the  deaths  occur  among  children  under  5 
years  of  age — a  higher  Infant  mortality  than 
India. 

Two  people  out  of  five  die  without  medical  attend¬ 
ance. 

90  per  cent  of  population  have  hookworm — the  rest 
have  malaria. 

FAMILY  LIFE: 

In  some  towns  as  high  as  38  per  cent  of  the  fam¬ 
ilies  without  civil  or  religious  sanction. 

No  public  opinion  against  concubinage  or  prostitu¬ 
tion. 

Venereal  diseases  very  prevalent. 

RELIC.IOUS 

CONDITION: 

50  per  cent  Catholic — 12  per  cent  Protestant.  The 
remainder  rationalists.  Spiritualists,  indif¬ 
ferent  s. 

More  people  attend  Protestant  services  than 
Catholic. 

.4bout  14,000  Protestant  members— 2,500  Presby¬ 
terian. 

No  overlapping  of  territory, 

Interdenominational  Seminary. 

Interdenominational  paper  and  press. 

Interdenominational  Summer  Conference  of 

Workers. 

A  strong  Evangelical  Union  with  working  commit¬ 
tees  on  Education,  Social  Reform,  Evangelism 
and  Literature. 

OUTSTANDING  DATES 

IN  THE 

HISTORY  OF  PORTO  RICO 


Discovery  of  Columbus . 1493 

Settled  by  Ponce  de  Leon . 1500-11 

Introduction  of  Negro  Slaves . 1515 

Establishment  of  Inquisition . 1519 

Reign  of  Buccaneers  and  Filibusters . 1625-1780 

Inquisition  Abolished  . 1813 

Became  a  Province  of  Spain . 1869 

Emancipation  of  Slaves . 1873 

American  Occupation  . 1898 

Missionary  Occupation  . 1898 

Census— 953,000  . 1898 

Establishment  of  Civil  Government . 1900 

Porto  Ricans  Become  United  States  Citizens . 1917 

Porto  Rico  votes  drj'  by  tvvo-to-one  majority . 1917 

Census  (showing  a  population  of  1,297,772) . 1920 


No.  8 


CHAPTER  I 


Some  Personal  Characteristics 

Courtesy.  The  Porto  Rican  is  the  embodiment  of  hos¬ 
pitality,  courtesy  and  tact.  The  poorest  peon  in  the  coun¬ 
try  possesses  a  native  social  ease  that  is  seldom  found  among 
Anglo-Saxons.  The  stranger  can  always  be  sure  of  an  unaf¬ 
fected  welcome  even  to  the  most  humble  country  hut. 

This  courtesy  is  not  confined  to  the  social  life.  It  per¬ 
meates  and  influences  every  phase  of  living.  In  the  business 
world,  for  example,  although  the  Porto  Rican  has  few  equals 
when  it  comes  to  shrewdness,  he  does  not  depend  upon  the 
complicated  efficiency  systems  of  his  northern  brother.  He 
has  a  way  of  ingratiating  himself  into  the  confidence  of  his 
customer  and  establishing  a  personal  friendship.  Instead  of 
a  monthly  statement,  when  he  is  in  need  of  money,  he  will 
hand  you  a  signed  receipt.  A  more  subtle  method  could  hardly 
be  devised  to  create  a  special  effort  on  the  part  of  the  cus¬ 
tomer  to  raise  the  necessary  cash.  By  way  of  contrast  an 
American  grocery  store  on  the  island  prints  some  such  legend 
as  this  at  the  bottom  of  its  bills  and  statements.  “This  is  not 
a  bank.  Bills  are  payable  promptly  the  first  of  every  month. 
Interest  will  be  charged  on  all  overdue  accounts  at  legal  rate.” 
This  method  no  doubt  works  well  with  the  American  clientele 
which  the  store  serves,  but  it  will  not  work  with  the  Latin 
element.  If  the  American  business  man  is  sincere  in  his 
desire  to  win  the  confidence  of  Latin  America  from  a  com¬ 
mercial  standpoint  he  must,  as  other  nations  have  already 
done,  accommodate  himself  to  this  element  of  courtesy. 

The  courtesy  of  the  Porto  Rican  often  runs  to  the  extrem¬ 
ity — ^^an  outcome  of  exaggeration.  We  must  not  take  him 
too  literally.  On  the  announcement  of  his  new-born  babe 
will  appear  the  startling  statement,  “He  is  yours.”  Express 
the  slightest  interest  in  a  thing  and  the  proprietor  will  tell  you 
that  you  are  welcome  to  it,  even  though  it  be  the  house  which 


10 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


has  lodged  him  and  his  family  for  generations.  One  of  the 
favorite  stories  both  among  the  Porto  Ricans  and  the  resi¬ 
dent  Americans  is  that  during  a  visit  to  the  home  of  a  cul¬ 
tured  Porto  Rican,  a  northern  tourist  expressed  his  admira¬ 
tion  of  a  beautiful  picture — an  heirloom  of  the  family.  With 
his  customary  courtesy,  the  host  made  the  formal  reply  that 
the  picture  was  the  property  of  his  guest.  The  literal  Ameri¬ 
can,  however,  took  his  friend  at  his  word  and  next  morning 
sent  a  man  to  bring  away  his  newly  acquired  work  of  art. 
Needless  to  say  the  man  returned  empty-handed,  but  with  a 
positive  opinion  as  to  the  prosaic  nature  of  the  northerner’s 
make  up. 

Appreciation  of  the  Beautiful.  Another  marked  char¬ 
acteristic  of  the  Porto  Rican  is  his  love  of  the  beautiful.  This 
trait  manifests  itself  in  every  walk  of  life.  It  is  seen  in  the 
language  itself — the  chief  index  of  the  life  and  feeling  of  a 
people.  Good  Spanish  is  not  so  much  a  matter  of  good  gram¬ 
mar  as  it  is  “the  way  it  sounds.”  Art  for  art’s  sake  means  a 
great  deal  to  the  Porto  Rican.  Far  removed  from  the  great 
metropolitan  centers,  the  women  of  the  inland  towns  appear 
in  dresses  of  the  latest  Paris  and  New  York  styles  which 
some  native  dressmaker  has  made  from  a  picture  in  a  cur¬ 
rent  magazine,  without  either  patterns  or  instructions. 

One  of  the  tasks  of  Protestant  missions  is  to  supply  direc¬ 
tion  to  this  artistic  sense.  Where  it  does  not  have  this  direc¬ 
tion  and  where  the  artistic  sense  is  not  tempered  by  the  prac¬ 
tical  we  oftentimes  get  a  pitiful  affection  and  much  useless 
labor.  A  girl  will  work  for  months  on  a  piece  of  drawn 
work  and  will  shed  innumerable  tears  because  she  cannot  dis¬ 
pose  of  her  work  on  account  of  the  poor  quality  of  the  cloth 
on  which  she  has  put  her  labor.  The  cabinet  maker,  not  con¬ 
tent  with  the  native  beauty  of  the  mahogany,  cedar  or  satin 
wood  will,  unless  he  has  very  specific  instructions  to  the  con¬ 
trary,  work  days  and  weeks  carving  these  woods  in  imitation  of 
some  piece  of  cheap  State’s  furniture  that  may  take  his  eye. 
Where  work  of  this  nature  has  had  the  oversight  of  a  trained 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


11 


teacher  it  results  in  that  type  of  beauty  characteristic  of  the 
Spanish-Moorish  civilization. 

Idealism.  The  Porto  Rican  shares  with  his  other  Latin 
American  brethren  his  characteristic  idealism.  In  this  respect 
we  can  note  one  of  the  chief  differences  from  the  more  prac¬ 
tical  northerner.  The  South  American  possesses  a  fine  ideal¬ 
ism,  but  he  seems  to  lack  the  ability  to  put  his  ideals  into 
reality.  This  trait  is  offset  by  a  fatalism  which  so  often  saps 
his  energy  and  initiative.  The  constitutions  of  some  of  these 
Latin  American  Republics  surpass  even  the  work  of  Thomas 
Jefferson  in  their  advocacy  of  justice  and  brotherhood;  yet 
in  many  of  these  countries  we  find  a  revolution  with  almost 
every  rainy  season. 

It  is  refreshing  to  find  a  people  whose  standard  of  suc¬ 
cess  is  not  the  accumulation  of  material  property,  and  who 
will  put  up  with  all  kinds  of  political  inconvenience  provided 
they  are  able  to  live  in  comfort  with  family  and  friends;  yet, 
on  the  other  hand,  it  is  disappointing  to  see  so  few  native 
leaders  develop.  In  our  church  work  this  is  a  decided  deter¬ 
rent.  Of  good  ideas  and  theories  there  is  no  dearth,  but 
the  will  to  put  them  into  effect  is  lacking.  It  is  the  absence 
of  this  practical  side  of  their  nature  that  justifies  the  Anglo- 
Saxonized  courses  of  study  in  our  educational  institutions. 
Whatever  weakness  these  people  may  have  along  these  lines, 
the  right  training  has  done  much  to  offset  it,  as  is  evidenced  in 
our  trained,  native  ministry. 

Idealism  is  a  noble  trait  and  one  that  certainly  has  a  great 
part  in  a  well-rounded  Christian  experience,  but  it  is  essen¬ 
tial  that  this  element  should  be  balanced  by  a  sense  of  prac¬ 
tical  values.  Giving  this  direction  and  imbuing  the  Porto 
Rican  himself  with  this  proportional  view  of  things  is  an  im¬ 
portant  part  of  the  work  of  the  American  missionary. 

Intellectual  Qualities.  The  Porto  Rican  has  a  decided 
taste  for  purely  intellectual  questions.  At  a  railroad  station, 
in  the  drug  store,  or  wherever  men  are  wont  to  congregate 
we  are  always  sure  of  a  keen  discussion  on  any  religious  or 


12 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


philosophical  question  if  we  but  take  the  trouble  to  start  it. 
An  appreciation  for  the  abstract  seems  to  be  inherent  with 
these  islanders.  A  teacher  in  the  first  year  high  school  had 
finished  a  course  in  Franklin’s  Autobiography.  In  quizzing 
a  fifteen  year  old  freshman  on  this  pragmatic  book  as  to  what 
he  liked  best  about  it,  the  teacher  was  startled  with  the  reply 
"the  author’s  philosophy  of  life.”  This  was  her  first  experi¬ 
ence  in  teaching  on  the  island.  Later  she  was  not  so  much 
surprised  to  find  that  over  90%  of  the  same  class  elected  "Sin 
and  penance”  as  a  subject  to  write  on,  following  a  study  of 
the  "Rhyme  of  the  Ancient  Mariner”  when  they  might  have 
chosen,  "The  plot  of  the  story,”  or  some  such  subject. 

Manual  training  and  similar  branches  in  the  school  curri¬ 
culum  are  popular,  but  they  do  not  answer  the  purpose  for 
which  the  emphasis  has  been  placed  on  them  in  the  course 
of  study.  It  is  probably  just  as  difficult  now  to  get  a  fairly 
well  educated  young  Porto  Rican  to  take  up  some  form  of 
manual  work  for  his  livelihood  as  it  was  twenty  years  ago. 
Recently  a  missionary  was  instrumental  in  putting  one  of  the 
island  adolescents  in  touch  with  an  American — the  object  of 
the  boy  being  to  go  to  the  States  to  follow  this  man’s  line  of 
business.  In  the  course  of  his  correspondence,  the  boy  was 
very  careful  to  state  that  he  did  not  need  the  ordinary  ground¬ 
work  of  the  American  youth;  but  that  he  was  quite  willing  to 
do  anything  that  would  call  forth  the  diplomatic  ability  for 
which  the  Latin  race  was  noted ! 

With  all  this  intellectual  interest,  the  Porto  Rican  can  hardly 
be  said  to  be  up  to  date  in  his  philosophy.  He  is  a  follower 
rather  than  a  leader  in  this  direction  also.  The  greatest  oppo¬ 
nent  of  the  evangelical  religion  today  is  not  so  much  Roman 
Catholicism  as  it  is  the  kind  of  free  thinking  that  swept  the 
United  States  more  than  fifty  years  ago.  The  great  modern 
and  purifying  philosophies  of  Bergson  and  Eucken  do  not 
seem  to  have  found  these  people  yet.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
their  insular  position  will  not  permanently  keep  these  forces 
out.  Nothing  could  be  of  more  help  in  the  preaching  of  the 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


13 


Gospel  than  a  philosophy  that  would  turn  the  people  from  a 
material  conception  of  the  universe  to  a  spiritual  one. 

Sympathy  and  Generosity.  It  is  doubtful  if  there 
is  a  more  kind  and  generous  person  to  be  found  anywhere  than 
the  Porto  Rican.  In  spite  of  the  abject  poverty  of  a  large 
percentage  of  the  population  orphan  asylums  and  similar 
institutions  do  not  seem  to  flourish.  If  one  or  both  parents 
die,  the  children  are  divided  among  the  neighbors  to  share  the 
trials  and  fortunes  of  another  meager  existence.  During  the 
war  all  philanthropies  connected  with  the  conflict  were  enthu¬ 
siastically  supported.  People  who  had  never  given  to  anything 
outside  their  town  oversubscribed  to  the  Red  Cross  and  in  Lib¬ 
erty  Loans — often  without  a  clear  knowledge  of  what  the 
money  was  for  or  where  it  was  going.  One  incident  which  oc¬ 
curred  in  an  interior  country  district  will  serve  to  show  the 
spirit  of  the  people.  A  planter  was  approached  to  subscribe  his 
share  of  liberty  bonds.  He  had  been  used  to  the  periodical 
swindles  of  Spanish  days,  but  could  not  be  thought  to  be  ungen¬ 
erous.  He  subscribed  for  $500.00  worth  of  bonds,  but  even  after 
he  had  the  United  States’  receipt  he  firmly  maintained  that  the 
money  would  not  reach  San  Juan,  the  capital  of  the  fsland, 
much  less  the  boys  on  the  western  front.  We  have  not  seen 
him  since  he  has  been  clipping  his  coupons,  but  certainly  he 
must  be  one  of  a  great  company  whom  the  fair  treatment  on 
the  part  of  Uncle  Sam  has  convinced  that  there  is  at  least 
one  government  which  does  not  exploit  their  generosity. 

Like  all  good  traits  these  of  generosity  and  sympathy  have 
their  abuses.  The  hundreds  of  professional  beggars  that  infest 
the  island  thrive  principally  because  it  is  easier  to  make  an 
immediate  appeal  to  the  Porto  Rican,  than  it  is  for  the  reformer 
to  appeal  to  his  sense  of  social  justice  with  its  more  remote 
alleviation  of  the  trouble.  These  mendicants  make  their  rounds 
twice  a  week  and  receive  food  and  money  from  their  clients. 
It  is  a  good  business  to  those  who  play  the  game  well  and 
many  of  the  parasites  prosper.  One  well  known  beggar  whose 
principal  assets  are  cataracts  on  both  his  eyes  has  supported  a 


14 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


large  family  and  is  now  owner  of  a  small  farm  which  he  has 
bought  from  his  “earnings.”  He  frequently  receives  alms 
from  his  wife  as  she  comes  from  mass  in  her  finery!  A  mis¬ 
sion  doctor  a  few  years  ago  offered  to  remove  the  cataracts 
from  his  eyes  so  that  he  might  resume  his  former  occupation 
as  carpenter.  He  firmly  refused  this  help  with  a  string  of 
belligerent  language  and  charged  the  missionary  with  the 
offence  of  seeking  to  take  away  his  employment ! 

Mendicancy  has  been  the  object  of  many  attacks,  but  it  per¬ 
sists  in  spite  of  all  agitation.  The  remedy  must  come  from 
the  Island  itself.  Should  the  American  interfere  he  would 
be  regarded  as  cold-blooded.  It  is  gratifying  to  note,  however, 
that  the  Protestant  church  is  meeting  with  success  in  the  sup¬ 
pression  of  this  custom.  The  victorious  campaign  against  the 
liquor  traffic  and  the  successful  fights  against  social  impurity 
and  kindred  vices  are  gradually  striking  at  the  root  of  the 
evil  of  which  mendicancy  is  but  a  manifestation. 

Emotion.  We  may  write  of  these  characteristics,  yet  after 
all  they  are  but  manifestations  of  a  more  fundamental  differ¬ 
ence  between  the  Porto  Rican  and  the  North  American.  These 
islanders,  like  the  rest  of  their  race  are  fundamentally  emo¬ 
tional  while  the  continental  is  unemotional.  By  his  virtues 
and  his  vices,  we  find  that  the  Porto  Rican  is  far  more  influ¬ 
enced  by  the  great  emotional  instincts  of  life,  love,  hate,  fear, 
joy  and  sorrow  than  the  American.  They  are  an  impulsive 
people.  In  one  small  town  there  have  been  within  a  year,  three 
attempts  at  assassination,  two  of  which  were  successful.  In 
one  instance  an  infuriated  brother  sought  to  give  expression 
of  his  disapproval  of  his  sister’s  sweetheart  by  shooting  him 
as  he  came  from  the  theater.  A  second  case  was  that  of  a 
young  man  who  shot  and  killed  his  best  friend  over  a  dispute 
as  to  the  merits  of  their  revolvers.  The  other  case  was  that 
of  a  boy  who  fatally  stabbed  his  opponent  in  a  game  of  domi¬ 
noes  in  which  a  wager  of  three  cents  was  at  stake. 

It  need  not  be  said  that  this  emotional  nature  has  its  out¬ 
let  in  other  ways  than  in  gruesome  incidents  such  as  these.  It 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


15 


is  responsible  for  their  social  ease,  for  their  love  of  the  beau¬ 
tiful,  for  their  idealism,  for  their  generosity  and  sympathy.  It 
is  this  element  in  their  nature  that  has  made  the  Spanish  type 
of  courtesy  the  standard  of  all  polite  conduct. 

It  is  universally  recognized  that  a  religious  experience  that 
is  not  based  on  the  emotional  nature  of  man  is  altogether  incom¬ 
plete.  “Out  of  the  heart,  come  the  issues  of  life.”  The  Porto 
Rican  fundamentally  has  those  elements  that  make  for  a  great 
heart  religion  and  the  first  phase  of  the  missionary’s  problem 
is  to  adapt  our  Anglo-Saxonized  gospel  to  the  natures  and  to 
the  personal  needs  of  these  emotional  people. 


No.  3 


CHAPTER  II 


The  Social  Life 

The  complete  Americanization  of  Porto  Rico  may  be  a  mat¬ 
ter  of  years  or  of  centuries,  but  it  seems  inevitable.  Ameri¬ 
can  civilization,  largely  the  outcome  of  the  Protestant  reli¬ 
gion,  does  not  have  this  religious  background  in  Porto  Rico. 
Therefore  the  social  task  of  the  evangelical  church  is  to 
provide  the  moral  element  of  this  changed  condition.  The 
problem  does  not  end  in  the  conversion  of  the  individual,  but 
has  within  its  scope  the  complete  regeneration  of  the  social 
life  of  the  people.  A  study  of  the  social  conditions  of  the 
island  will  help  us  to  understand  the  nature  of  this  phase  of 
the  Church’s  work. 

Population.  The  most  recent  statistics  give  the  popula¬ 
tion  of  Porto  Rico  as  1,300,000  and  the  composition  of  the 
population  as  60%  white,  35%  mulatto  and  5%  negro.  Most 
of  the  whites  are  descended  from  Spanish  colonists.  In  poli¬ 
tics  or  in  business,  the  amount  of  color  a  person  may  have 
is  no  drawback.  In  the  lower  classes,  where  there  is  no  ambi¬ 
tion  for  a  social  career,  intermarriage  between  the  white  and 
the  black  is  of  frequent  occurrence.  There  is  no  law,  or  even 
a  positive  opinion  against  the  practice.  In  the  higher  states 
of  society,  there  is  a  well-defined  color  line ;  inter-marriage 
of  the  races  is  strictly  prohibited  and  membership  in  the 
casino  and  other  recreational  institutions  is  denied  the  man 
of  color. 

“Rich  Port”  and  Its  Poverty.  Porto  Rico  is  the  Span¬ 
ish  for  “Rich  Port.”,  Its  natural  wealth  attracted  the  Spanish 
colonists  of  the  16th  century.  Today,  from  many  points  of 
view,  the  name  is  still  descriptive  of  the  island.  The  last 
fiscal  year  showed  a  trade  balance,  exports  over  imports,  of 
$6,594,231  which  in  proportion  to  its  population,  was  larger 
than  that  of  the  United  States.  The  budget  for  the  present 
year  is  $5,227,389  a  bigger  budget  than  twenty-three  of  the 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


17 


States  of  the  Union.  The  borrowing  capacity  of  the  island 
is  $16,000,000. 

In  spite  of  these  facts,  poverty  and  its  attendant  evils  are 
very  pressing  problems.  All  the  wealth  of  the  island,  we  are 
told,  is  in  the  hands  of  15%  of  the  population  and  in  spite 
of  such  a  good  trade  balance  the  pre  war  per  capita  wealth 
of  the  island  was  $182  compared  with  a  per  capita  wealth  in 
continental  United  States  of  $1,123  and  of  $1,442  in  Great 
Britain.  Doctors  Ashford  and  Gutierrez  who,  since  the  Occu¬ 
pation  have  done  such  valiant  service  in  the  eradication  of 
Uncinariasis,  the  “hookworm,”  know  intimately  the  country¬ 
man,  or  “Jibero”  of  Porto  Rico  who  comprises  such  a  large 
proportion  of  the  population.  They  give  this  description  of 
the  daily  diet  of  this  unfortunate  class : 

“He  rises  at  dawn  and  takes  a  cocoanut  dipperful  of  ‘cafe 
puya,’ — coffee  without  sugar.  Naturally,  he  never  uses  milk. 
With  this  black  coffee  he  works  until  about  twelve  o’clock, 
when  his  wife  brings  him  his  breakfast,  corresponding  to  our 
lunch.  This  is  composed  of  boiled  salt  codfish,  with  oil ;  and 
has  one  of  the  following  vegetables  of  the  island  to  furnish 
the  carborate  element ;  banana,  platano,  name,  batata,  or 
yaytia. 

“At  three  in  the  afternoon  he  takes  another  dipperful  of 
coffee,  as  he  began  the  day.  At  dusk  he  returns  to  the  house 
and  has  one  single  dish,  a  kind  of  stew,  made  of  the  current 
vegetables  of  the  island,  with  rice  and  codfish.  At  rare  inter¬ 
vals,  he  treats  himself  to  pork,  of  which  he  is  very  fond,  and 
on  still  rarer  occasions  he  visits  the  town  and  eats  quantities 
of  bread,  without  butter,  of  course. 

“Of  all  this  list  of  country  foods  there  are  only  three  ele¬ 
ments  that  are  bought — rice,  codfish  and  condiments.  Rice 
is  imported  from  the  United  States  and  codfish  from  Nova 
Scotia.  The  bread  he  eats  on  his  visit  to  town  is  made  of 
American  flour.  .  .  . 

“Only  a  few  cents  difference  in  wages  will  cut  out  the  small 


18 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


proportion  of  animal  proteids  he  obtains,  the  codfish,  and  a 
cyclone  will  drive  him  in  desperation  to  the  town.” 

Many  have  been  the  remedies  brought  forward  to  relieve 
this  distressing  poverty.  The  more  recent,  that  of  emigration, 
has  received  a  great  deal  of  attention.  Dr.  Fleagle,  formerly 
dean  of  the  University  of  Porto  Rico,  and  a  keen  student 
of  the  social  life  of  the  island,  writing  of  this  method  says 
that  Porto  Rico  could  support  twice  the  population  that  she 
now  has  with  comparative  ease,  providing  some  means  is 
found  to  relieve  the  economic  situation  of  the  greater  part 
of  the  people  and  to  prevent  the  accumulation  of  wealth  in  the 
hands  of  a  comparative  small  number. 

Of  the  other  proposed  solutions,  the  elimination  of  the 
absentee  landlord  and  the  establishment  of  a  system  of  small 
farms  in  the  place  of  the  great  plantations  that  now  exist  and 
dominate  the  agricultural  life  of  the  island  has  strong  adher¬ 
ents.  Many  of  the  best  friends  of  the  island  see  in  this  peas¬ 
ant  proprietorship  with  a  system  of  rural  co-operation  simi¬ 
lar  to  that  of  Denmark,  the  salvation  of  the  island  from  the 
pall  of  poverty.  It  is  probably  the  best  solution  offered,  but 
the  Porto  Rican  is  notoriously  individualistic  and  the  co-opera¬ 
tive  part  of  the  scheme  is  likely  to  fail  unless  it  is  preceded 
by  years  of  education  and  experiment. 

For  the  Church  to  ignore  this  state  of  things  would  be  impos¬ 
sible — all  of  its  work  is  conditioned  by  it.  Yet  poverty  is  a 
many  sided  monster  and  the  evangelical  church  has  thus  far 
met  it  in  part  by  promoting  temperance  and  social  purity, 
establishing  hospitals  and  clinics,  social  centers  and  industrial 
schools  and  above  all  by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  which 
in  Porto  Rico  as  elsewhere  has  demonstrated  its  power  to  save 
to  the  uttermost. 

What  lies  before  the  Church  in  this  new  era  no  one  knows, 
but  that  we  must  lead  in  the  solution  of  this  problem  and  not 
hand  over  the  leadership  to  other  forces  with  their  destruc¬ 
tive  programs  is  a  point  upon  which  every  evangelical  leader 
in  Porto  Rico  is  agreed. 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


19 


La  Segunda  Clase.  One  of  the  outstanding  results  of 
the  American  Occupation  of  Porto  Rico  is  the  bridging  of  the 
gulf  that  divides  the  extremely  wealthy  from  the  peon  classes. 
The  creation  of  a  middle  class  seems  to  be  one  of  the  contri¬ 
butions  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  to  the  social  life  of  the  island. 
The  personnel  of  most  of  the  distinctively  American  institu¬ 
tions  consists  of  members  of  the  “Segunda  clase,”  people,  who, 
before  the  occupation,  were  without  any  social  standing  and 
are  now  teaching  in  the  public  schools,  occupying  government 
offices  and  preaching  in  many  of  our  evangelical  pulpits.  In 
this  new  democratic  arrangement,  there  are  many  instances 
where  this  virile  element  of  Porto  Rican  life  has  thrust  the 
so-called  “primeras”  from  places  of  responsibility  which  fam¬ 
ily  and  wealth  had  given  them  for  centuries.  The  boss  of  one 
of  the  important  political  parties  on  the  island,  is  colored.  In 
the  afternoon  he  will  confer  and  dictate  to  men  with  whom  in 
the  evening  he  would  not  be  permitted  to  associate  in  a  social 
way. 

The  class  is  as  a  rule  stoutly  pro-American.  It  is  this  kind 
of  people  that  comprise  to  a  great  extent  the  membership  of 
our  evangelical  churches,  and  it  is  in  them  that  our  hope  of  a 
self-supporting  church  lies. 

La  Buena  Familia.  It  has  been  said  that  the  English 
word  “home”  has  no  equivalent  in  the  Spanish  language.  In 
its  larger  meaning,  this  may  be  true  but  whatever  significance 
this  fact  has  in  the  Spanish  character  the  family  and  family 
life  has  as  great  a  part  in  Hibernian  civilization  as  in  our  own. 

For  the  honor  of  his  family  the  Porto  Rican  will  make  any 
sacrifice.  There  are  dozens  of  young  men  in  Porto  Rico 
today  who  were  trained  in  the  States  and  had  started  in  some 
promising  professional  career;  yet  they  quit  their  profession 
to  return  to  the  land  of  their  birth  in  order  to  satisfy  one 
or  both  parents  who  could  not  be  separated  from  their  “ninos.” 

If  one  is  a  member  of  a  “buena  familia” — a  good  family — 
he  is  likely  to  be  forgiven  a  multitude  of  sins  and  weak¬ 
nesses.  What  the  family  wealth  will  do  for  the  prodigal  in 


20 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


the  States,  the  family  name  will  do  for  the  Porto  Rican  scape¬ 
goat.  Quite  recently  in  the  writer’s  district,  a  member  of  one 
of  the  most  honored  families  in  the  community  committed 
what,  under  other  circumstances,  would  have  been  an  unpar¬ 
donable  breach  of  etiquette.  He  drank  too  much  of  the  for¬ 
bidden  juice,  and  in  a  drunken  drivel  insulted  his  host  at  a 
ball.  The  matter  was  hushed  up  and  the  fellow  is  apparently 
in  as  good  a  social  standing  as  before. 

In  one  of  our  recent  church  entertainments  in  assigning  the 
parts,  the  Porto  Rican  director  paid  more  attention  to  the  fam¬ 
ilies  of  the  actors  than  she  did  to  their  dramatic  ability,  evi¬ 
dently  with  an  eye  to  the  box  office  receipts  and  to  future  criti¬ 
cism  of  the  play. 

Concubinage.  According  to  the  census  of  1910,  16%  of 
the  males  and  15.7%  of  the  females  were  consensually  mar¬ 
ried.  That  is,  one-sixth  of  all  the  people  over  15  years  of 
age  are  living  together  without  the  benefit  of  a  civil  or  eccle¬ 
siastical  marriage.  In  a  recent  social  survey  conducted  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Porto  Rico  out  of  families  visited  18%  reported 
that  they  were  living  together  without  the  sanction  of  mar¬ 
riage.  In  some  centers,  the  percentage  went  as  high  as  38%. 

There  are  two  reasons  advanced  that  are  supposed  to  be 
responsible  for  this  state  of  things.  The  first  is  the  loose  liv¬ 
ing  of  the  Spanish  colonists.  Unlike  our  Pilgrim  fathers  who 
came  to  America  with  their  families,  these  Spaniards  were 
mostly  adventurers  who  left  family  ties  behind  them  and 
entered  into  this  consensual  marriage  with  the  native  women. 
Because  of  the  lack  of  moral  resistance  of  the  partially  civ¬ 
ilized  islanders  this  practice  became  an  accepted  custom.  The 
other  reason  advanced  is  that  of  the  extortionate  and  prohibi¬ 
tory  fees  charged  by  the  Church.  Ecclesiastical  marriages  were 
the  only  kind  recognized  before  the  .American  occupation.  In 
war  days  the  draft  laws  sent  thousands  of  couples  to  the  priest, 
minister  and  magistrate  to  legalize  their  unions,  in  order  to 
qualify  for  the  government  allotments  in  case  the  men  were 
called  to  the  colors. 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


21 


The  most  deplorable  phase  of  these  unions  is  that  the  chil¬ 
dren  who  are  born  are  denied  a  real  home.  In  the  eyes  of 
the  law,  there  is  the  “natural”  child,  and  the  illegitimate  child. 
The  “natural”  child  is  a  child  born  out  of  wedlock  but  recog¬ 
nized  and  registered  by  the  father.  This  child  has  a  legal 
standing.  The  father  supports  it  and  grants  it  a  minimum 
percentage  of  his  estate.  As  a  rule  the  child  lives  with  its 
mother.  Later  should  the  father  marry,  the  natural  child 
has  the  humiliation  of  seeing  his  half  brothers  and  sisters 
enjoying  social  recognition  and  prestige  in  which  he  too 
ought  to  share.  As  one  of  the  native  legislators  in  advocating 
better  and  fairer  laws  for  the  natural  child  has  said :  “The 
natural  child  abandoned  by  its  father  needs  the  law  to  pro¬ 
tect  him  more  than  the  legitimate  child,  because  society  rejects 
him.  If  it  accepts  him  at  all  it  is  on  an  inferior  level  when 
referring  to  his  rights.  Frequently  hfs  father  turns  his  back 
upon  him  and  pretends  that  he  does  not  know  him.” 

There  is  as  yet  no  insular  law  that  will  effectually  correct 
the  evil ;  nothing  will  do  it  but  an  educated  Christian  public 
opinion.  The  Evangelical  Church  is  the  only  institution  on 
the  island  that  fights  openly  this  unsocial  practice. 

The  illegitimate  child  is  another  outcome  of  these  loose 
sexual  relations.  The  last  census  figures  gives  the  number  of 
illegitimate  children  in  Porto  Rico  as  155,249,  a  slight  decrease 
over  the  previous  census.  The  evil  results  of  illegitimacy  in 
Porto  Rico  are  the  same  as  elsewhere.  Many  of  the  children 
are  abandoned  by  both  parents  and  owing  to  lack  of  sufficient 
orphanages  and  children’s  homes,  it  is  estimated  that  today 
there  are  10,000  homeless  children  on  the  Island  under  twelve 
years  of  age.  The  children  live  on  what  they  can  earn,  beg 
or  steal.  They  sleep  in  the  waiting  room  of  a  railway  station, 
in  the  comfortable  branches  of  a  tropical  tree,  or  on  the 
porch  of  some  residence.  They  are  entirely  illiterate  and 
form  the  class  from  which  come  the  beggars  and  thieves. 
“They  constitute  a  danger  to  the  community,  and  if  it  were 
not  for  the  relatively  high  death  rate  that  is  found  among 


22 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


people  of  this  class,  the  island  would  soon  be  overrun  by 
citizens  brought  up  under  these  criminal-forming  conditions.” 

Prostitution.  The  public  prostitute  is  accepted  by  the 
majority  of  the  people  of  the  island  as  a  part  of  the  normal 
public  life.  During  the  recent  war  in  the  enforcement  of  the 
five  mile  act  and  similar  legislation,  the  Attorney  General  of 
the  Island  encountered  so  much  opposition  that  he  was  almost 
compelled  to  resign.  Until  recently  this  phase  of  the  Island’s 
life  was  completely  ignored;  there  was  no  segregation,  no 
medical  inspection  and  no  public  interest  in  the  matter. 

At  present  in  the  larger  cities  there  are  organizations  of 
women  working  together  for  the  welfare  of  their  fallen  sis¬ 
ters.  At  a  recent  Social  Purity  Sunday,  the  evangelical 
churches  of  the  Island  contributed  $400.00  to  be  used  in 
helping  the  government  restore  the  unfortunate  women  then 
in  the  jails  to  normal  living.  Many  of  these  women  had 
already  expressed  a  desire  to  lead  a  different  life.  Under  such 
organizations  as  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  they  are  being  taught  dif¬ 
ferent  native  industries. 

Recreational  Life.  In  the  abandon  of  their  play  we  are 
much  more  likely  to  get  a  true  perspective  of  Porto  Ricans 
than  in  their  more  self-conscious  moments.  “Palms,  Patios 
and  Plazas”  has  been  used  to  describe  Cuba.  For  the  recre¬ 
ational  life  of  Porto  Rico,  although  at  the,  sacrifice  of  the 
alliteration,  we  could  substitute  “Casinos,  Plazas,  and  Fiestas.” 

The  Casino  is  the  apex  of  the  social  life  of  the  Island.  Every 
town,  even  though  it  be  not  more  than  a  group  of  huts  in 
the  mountain,  will  maintain  its  casino.  To  be  a  member  of 
this  group  is  the  social  ambition  of  the  youth  of  the  town.  It 
is  however  exclusive,  by  reason  of  its  color  line  and  by  its 
prohibitory  fees,  and  is  really  the  only  institution  in  the  Island’s 
social  life  that  does  not  recognize  the  social  equality  of  the 
negro.  In  spite  of  protests  from  one  or  the  other  excluded 
parties  the  casino  maintains  its  exclusive  feature  and  sets  the 
pace  for  the  smart  set  of  the  community. 

The  attitude  of  the  evangelical  church  to  this  institution 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


23 


varies  according  to  the  church  and  community.  Wherever  the 
church  has  openly  espoused  the  casino  it  has  resulted  disas¬ 
trously  for  the  church  and  the  minister.  In  the  past  the  casino 
has  been  a  big  dispenser  of  liquors  and  was  tabooed  by  most 
of  the  churches  on  this  account.  Today,  although  this  feature 
is  supposed  to  have  been  eliminated,  many  of  the  casinos  are, 
to  a  great  extent,  gambling  clubs  and  for  this  reason  are  dis¬ 
approved  by  our  churches.  However,  it  is  very  difficult  to 
formulate  a  prohibitory  policy,  and  to  place  a  ban  on  such  a 
native  institution  may  prove  detrimental  to  the  work  of  the 
church.  It  would  be  better  to  so  regenerate  this  institution 
that  it  may  become  a  constructive  influence  in  the  community’s 
welfare. 

The  Plaza.  There  is  no  parallel  or  counterpart  in  Anglo- 
Saxon  life  to  the  plaza  in  Spanish-American  life.  What  the 
casino  is  to  a  selected  class,  the  plaza  is  to  the  masses.  It  is 
the  real  community  center.  When  night  falls  the  boys  and 
girls,  young  men  and  maidens,  husbands  and  wives  congregate 
in  the  plaza  or  public  square  of  the  city.  The  older  people  sit 
on  the  side  and  chat,  while  the  young  folks  begin  to  parade, 
often  to  the  quaint  music  of  a  native  orchestra.  In  this  parade 
the  girls  circle  one  way  and  the  young  men  the  other.  So 
great  is  the  power  of  custom  and  so  carefully  chaperoned  are 
the  young  ladies  that  if  a  girl  should  circle  with  a  young  man 
it  would  be  almost  tantamount  to  an  engagement.  Then  would 
follow  the  balcony  flirtation,  the  serenade,  and  the  formal 
betrothment.  Within  a  year  or  so,  this  girl  will  be  seated 
at  the  fringe  of  the  procession  watching  her  sister  take  a  simi¬ 
lar  step.  How  do  these  girls  so  closely  chaperoned  ever  get 
an  opportunity  to  express  a  preference  for  their  “novios?” 
These  difficulties  vanish  with  one’s  acquaintance  with  these 
people.  Love  laughs  at  locksmiths  and  at  chaperones  in  Porto 
Rico  as  elsewhere.  As  Professor  Ross  has  recently  said:  “It 
is  needless  to  point  out  that  without  opportunity  of  speech  the 
young  people  become  marvelously  skilled  in  the  language  of 
the  eyes.  What  a  senorita  looking  over  the  edge  of  a  fan 


24 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


can  express  with  her  dark  eyes  would  rouse  a  poet  from  the 
dead.” 

The  Fiesta.  The  fiesta  is  another  thing  that  is  essentially 
a  part  of  the  Porto  Rican  life.  It  is  something  more  than  a 
social  gathering;  it  is  a  state  of  mind  that  grasps  at  any  excuse 
to  turn  from  the  serious  things  of  life  to  the  more  entertain¬ 
ing.  Hardly  a  week  passes  that  does  not  have  a  holiday  or 
some  saint’s  day  to  celebrate.  Nothing  brought  about  by  the 
American  Occupation  was  so  unanimously  adopted  by  the 
Porto  Ricans  as  the  American  holidays.  George  Washing¬ 
ton  meant  nothing  to  the  simple  mountaineers,  but  the  22nd 
of  February  was  an  important  fiesta  of  the  “Americano,”  and 
so  now  with  vim  they  celebrate  the  birthday  of  the  “American 
patron — Saint  George  !” 

Christmas  day  in  Porto  Rico  did  not  mean  much  to  the 
children.  The  youngsters  have  their  festival  on  the  6th  of 
January,  Three  Kings  Day.  This  holiday  celebrates  the  com¬ 
ing  of  the  Wise  Men,  Before  retiring  the  children  will  fill 
baskets  with  grass  and  place  them  in  conspicuous  places  so 
that  the  Wise  Men  in  their  search  for  the  infant  Jesus  will  see 
them  and  in  return  for  fodder  for  their  beasts,  will  leave  pres¬ 
ents  for  the  children.  The  coming  of  Santa  Claus  with  the 
Americans  did  not  oust  this  custom  by  any  means ;  he  was  wel¬ 
comed  as  an  additional  friend  and  now  these  two  days  as  well 
as  New  Year’s  are  duly  celebrated.  It  does  not  have  to  be 
emphasized  that  the  religious  significance  of  the  fiesta  is  very 
great.  One  of  the  chief  criticisms  against  the  Catholic  Church, 
alike  from  the  Protestants  and  from  serious-minded  Catholics 
is  that  this  church  has  over-emphasized  the  fiesta.  For  the 
Saints’  Days  and  other  special  celebrations  the  church  will 
be  crowded,  while  at  the  devotional  services,  mass  and  confes¬ 
sion,  in  many  towns  it  is  difficult  to  find  more  than  a  few  devout 
women. 

Sports.  One  might  think  that  to  this  fiesta-loving  people 
America  could  not  introduce  much  in  the  way  of  amusement. 
In  this  direction,  however,  we  have  made  one  of  the  most 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


25 


notable  contributions  to  the  life  of  the  people.  The  Porto 
Rican  when  it  comes  to  team  work  is  lacking  in  what  the 
Anglo-Saxon  considers  the  first  element  of  a  good  sport. 
Prof.  Ross  in  his  South  of  Panama,  quotes  a  British  diplomat 
“who  knows  the  continent  from  Panama  to  Patagonia”  as  say¬ 
ing,  “Distrust  is  universal  here.  No  South  American  will  put 
his  faith  in  another  South  American.”  In  his  sport  the  end 
is  likely  to  justify  the  means.  A  little  cheating  is  all  right,  if 
you  are  not  found  out.  American  base  ball  has  done  more  to 
rectify  this  fault  than  perhaps  any  other  factor.  The  public 
school  has  been  the  great  agency  in  teaching  the  national  game. 
It  is  now  impossible  to  go  into  the  remotest  “barrio”  and  not 
find  a  base  ball  diamond.  As  one  travels  through  the  country  on 
a  Sunday,  he  frequently  comes  across  an  excited  crowd  yell¬ 
ing  themselves  hoarse.  The  English  words  “Foul,”  “Play 
ball,”  “Strike”  will  arise  from  a  jargon  of  incomprehensible 
Spanish. 

American  sports  have  taught  the  Porto  Rican  the  value  of 
team  work,  and  that  there  is  something  more  important  than 
to  win  a  game.  While  the  evangelical  church  has  no  direct 
part  in  this  work,  it  welcomes  a  clean  game  of  base  ball  as  a 
very  fine  help  to  its  task. 


CHAPTER  III 


Religious  Conditions 

Catholicism.  “In  no  other  part  of  the  world  has  the  Catho¬ 
lic  Church  been  so  protected  as  in  South  America,”  says  Prof. 
Ross  in  his  South  of  Panama.  In  practically  all  of  these  Latin 
countries,  the  Roman  Church  is  supported  by  the  State,  and 
the  Church  controls  and  directs  the  educational  policies  of  the 
State.  Porto  Rico  was  probably  the  most  immune  of  any  of 
these  countries  to  Protestant  influence.  If  the  Catholic  Church 
ever  had  an  opportunity  to  prove  its  saving  power  it  was  in 
this  island.  From  1493  to  1898 — over  400  years — it  had  no 
competition.  With  the  single  exception  of  a  small  Episcopal 
Church  for  the  English  colony  in  the  city  of  Ponce,  no  other 
religious  body  but  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  was  permit¬ 
ted  to  work  among  this  island  people. 

The  effect  of  this  isolation,  this  “closed  shop”  policy,  may 
be  fairly  judged  by  the  statements  of  Father  Sherman,  son  of 
General  Sherman  and  chaplain  to  the  American  army  of  occu¬ 
pation  in  Porto  Rico.  To  a  Catholic  paper  he  writes,  “Porto 
Rico  is  a  Catholic  country  without  religion  whatever.  The 
clergy  do  not  seem  to  have  any  firm  hold  on  the  native  peo¬ 
ple,  nor  have  they  any  lively  sympathy  with  the  Porto  Ricans 
or  Porto  Rico.”  In  his  report  to  General  Brooke  he  said, 
“Now  that  the  priests  are  deprived  of  government  aid,  many 
are  leaving  the  country.  The  Church  was  so  united  with  the 
State  and  so  identified  with  it  in  the  eyes  of  the  people  that 
it  must  share  the  odium  with  which  the  Spanish  rule  is  com¬ 
monly  regarded.  The  sacrament  of  confirmation  has  not  been 
administered  for  many  years  in  a  great  part  of  the  island. 
Religion  is  dead  on  the  island.” 

So  far  as  statistics  can  bear  any  light  on  the  subject,  about 
50%  of  the  people  are  nominally  Catholic,  though  the  Church 
claims  60%.  Membership  in  the  Catholic  Church,  however,  is 
quite  a  different  thing  from  membership  in  the  Protestant 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


27 


Church.  If  a  person  has  been  baptized  in  infancy,  that  per¬ 
son  from  the  standpoint  of  Rome  is  a  member  of  the  Church. 
The  life  he  subsequently  leads  has  little  to  do  with  his  church 
affiliation.  A  comparison  of  the  Catholic  and  Protestant 
churches  by  membership,  then,  would  be  very  misleading.  The 
Protestant  churches,  whose  membership  is  the  result  of  a 
mature  decision  and  is  supposedly  dependent  upon  a  moral 
life,  need  a  different  basis  of  comparison.  A  more  fair  method 
of  judging  the  influence  of  these  two  religious  organizations 
was  inaugurated  a  few  years  ago.  In  a  large  section  of  the 
island  the  people  who  attended  the  Catholic  and  Protestant 
churches  were  enumerated  and  it  was  found  that  on  this 
Sunday,  the  Catholic  Church  held  80  services  in  towns  with 
an  attendance  of  7,731  persons  and  eight  services  in  the  coun¬ 
try  with  an  attendance  of  363  persons,  a  total  attendance  for 
the  Catholics  of  8,094.  On  the  same  day,  and  in  the  same  dis¬ 
trict  the  Protestants  held  70  services  in  towns  with  an  attend¬ 
ance  of  4,796  while  in  the  country  they  held  102  services 
with  an  attendance  of  4,074,  a  total  for  the  Protestants  of 
8,870.  Had  the  census  not  stopped  with  attendance  at  Sun¬ 
day  services,  but  continued  through  the  week  the  result 
would  have  been  a  great  deal  more  favorable  for  the  Protes¬ 
tants.  For  in  the  eighty  towns  and  centers  enumerated  there 
would  easily  have  been  fifty  Protestant  services  each  day  of 
the  week  while  the  Catholic  midweek  services — unless  there  is 
a  special  fiesta — are  practically  nil. 

Let  us  not  make  the  error,  though,  of  basing  too  much  on 
any  set  of  figures.  The  Protestants  are  quite  willing  to  let 
their  influence  be  judged  by  the  fruits  of  their  work. 

Ignorance  and  Superstition.  From  an  evangelical  point 
of  view  the  principle  reason  that  Roman  Catholicism  falls 
short  of  ministering  to  the  spiritual  needs  of  the  Porto  Rican 
is  because  of  the  ignorance  it  makes  little  effort  to  remove, 
and  because  of  the  superstitious  practices  it  sanctions  in  the 
name  of  religion.  The  Catholic  Church  in  Porto  Rico  has 
always  opposed  anything  in  the  way  of  popular  education  and 


28 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


consequently  ignorance  and  superstition  have  for  four  cen¬ 
turies  prevented  the  creation  of  an  enlightened  public  opinion. 
During  the  recent  series  of  earthquakes,  even  the  American 
priests  led  the  rogativas — candlelight  processions — to  appease 
the  wrath  of  the  Devil  who  was  said  to  be  the  cause  of  the 
disturbances.  In  many  places  the  priests  explained  that  the 
earthquake  came  as  a  result  of  anti-Catholic  propaganda.  In 
one  city  in  particular,  where  the  damage  had  been  exception¬ 
ally  heavy  the  American  priest  insisted  that  the  people  of  the 
town  had  brought  it  on  themselves  by  persisting  in  the  removal 
of  his  predecessor  for  grossly  immoral  conduct.  At  the  ancient 
town  of  Aguadilla,  where  the  tidal  wave  did  so  much  dam¬ 
age  and  where  the  Catholic  Church  was  demolished,  the  priest 
hit  upon  the  plan  of  placing  the  Patron  Saint  of  the  town 
on  the  balcony  of  a  house  facing  the  sea.  So  great  was  the 
power  of  this  effigy  that  in  spite  of  shocks  and  rumors  of 
shocks,  the  sea  did  not  invade  the  town  again. 

On  Palm  Sunday,  the  natives  flock  to  town  and  to  mass 
bringing  their  palm  branches  with  them.  So  great  is  the 
demand  for  the  palm  branches  that  even  the  Protestant  minis¬ 
ter’s  cocoanut  palms  are  likely  to  be  injured  by  his  good  Catho¬ 
lic  friends  begging  too  many  branches.  At  the  church,  the 
priest  blesses  the  branches  and  the  people  take  them  home 
and  place  them  in  front  of  their  houses  to  protect  the  domicile 
against  lightning.  Usually  the  branches  are  beaten  down  by 
the  first  heavy  storm. 

When  the  young  manhood  of  the  Island  was  called  upon 
for  military  service  in  the  past  war,  instead  of  devoting  them¬ 
selves  and  their  energy  to  some  more  practical  occupation,  the 
ultra  Catholic  women  of  the  Island  made  “Corazons  de  Jesus” 
— Hearts  of  Jesus.  This  piece  of  needlework  was  to  prevent 
any  bullet  reaching  the  soldiers.  In  as  much  as  the  Armistice 
was  signed  two  days  before  the  boys  had  been  ordered  to  leave 
for  France,  it  may  be  presumed  that  the  women  now  claim 
that  their  badges  were  effective  in  “keeping  the  bullets  away.” 

From  10.00  A.  M.  of  the  Thursday  of  Holy  Week  until  the 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


29 


same  hour  on  Saturday  is  a  peculiarly  sacred  time  for  the 
Catholics  of  Porto  Rico.  This  time  does  not  simply  com¬ 
memorate  the  death  of  our  Lord,  but  to  them  Jesus  is  actually 
dead  again  and  in  his  tomb.  The  absurd  consequences  of  such 
a  belief  indicate  the  depth  of  the  superstitious  mire  into  which 
the  Catholic  Church  in  Porto  Rico  has  been  plunged.  To  Porto 
Rican  Catholics  not  only  is  the  Lord  again  dead  but  the  whole 
physical  world  suffers  the  pangs  of  death  with  him.  Should  a 
person  do  anything  in  this  period  that  is  not  authorized  by  the 
Church,  he  will  be  doing  it  to  the  very  body  of  Christ.  Manual 
work  is,  of  course,  tabooed.  The  poor  of  both  town  and 
country,  if  they  be  devout  Catholics  must  quit  their  work,  for 
should  even  a  nail  be  driven  to  make  their  rickety  huts  more 
secure,  they  would  be  driving  it  into  the  very  body  of  the 
Master. 

Cases  that  illustrate  this  superstitious  nature  of  the  Catholic 
Church  in  Porto  Rico  might  be  multiplied  ad  infinitum.  They 
would  only  prove  that  which  is  evident  to  the  casual  observer 
of  religious  conditions  in  Porto  Rico — the  need  of  a  religion 
where  reason  and  feeling  are  so  blended  that  in  avoiding  super¬ 
stition  a  cold  intellectualism,  or  an  intangible  mysticism  is  not 
established. 

Its  Anti-Social  Nature.  Again,  the  Catholic  Church  in 
Porto  Rico  is  anti-social.  The  whole  hierarchical  system  is 
opposed  to  our  modern  democratic  view  of  looking  at  things. 
To  the  native,  the  Catholic  Church  is  the  greatest  supporter 
of  the  caste  system  that  dominates  the  Island.  When  a  family 
of  some  note  is  interested  in  the  Protestant  faith,  the  greatest 
argument  that  the  priest  thinks  he  can  bring  to  bear  on  them  is, 
^‘Only  the  poor  people  are  Protestant.”  He  is  greatly  per¬ 
plexed  when  this  line  of  reasoning  does  not  have  the  desired 
result.  That  which  is  our  greatest  glory  is,  from  the  Catholic 
point  of  view  our  most  vulnerable  point.  The  fact  that  every 
spiritual  revival,  alike  in  Catholic  and  Protestant  Churches, 
has  had  its  origin  among  the  lowly  seems  to  have  been  for¬ 
gotten  by  the  Porto  Rican  Catholic  protagonists. 


I 


30  TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 

This  anti-social  nature  is  shown  particularly  in  movements 
like  Prohibition  and  the  Social  Purity  campaigns.  For  such 
movements  the  Catholic  Church  shows  either  an  active  oppo¬ 
sition  or  a  total  indifference. 

Even  in  sacramental  matters,  the  Catholic  hierarchy  shows 
this  same  diffidence  to  the  artificial  lines  of  cleavage  in  the 
social  life  of  the  people.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  the  Prot¬ 
estant  minister  to  have  some  poor  ignorant  woman  bring  him 
her  child  to  be  baptized  because  the  priest  has  refused  to  do 
so  since  she  has  not  enough  money  to  pay  the  minimum  fee. 

In  funeral  services  for  the  peasant  who  can  pay  only  a  few 
cents,  the  priest  will  mumble  a  few  formularies  in  the  church ; 
for  those  who  can  pay  a  little  more,  he  will  take  them  to  the 
door  of  the  church ;  with  others  higher  up  in  the  social  and 
financial  scale  he  will  walk  down  the  steps  of  the  church; 
for  la  biiena  familia,  however,  he  and  his  assistants  in  their 
finest  regalia  will  go  to  the  graveyard  with  the  cortege. 

The  Catholic  Church  in  Porto  Rico  does  not  seem  to  have 
awakened  to  the  fact  that  we  are  living  today  in  a  democratic 
world  and  that  the  surest,  if  the  slowest,  way  to  get  even 
political  power  is  to  work  with  the  masses.  The  church,  how¬ 
ever,  plays  the  game  as  it  did  in  the  time  of  king  and  court. 
If  the  energy  that  is  used  in  San  Juan,  the  capital  of  the 
island,  by  the  Catholics  to  pick  some  political  plum  or  to 
curry  favor  with  some  political  appointee  were  spent  in  the 
bettering  of  the  social  and  moral  conditions  of  the  island, 
Porto  Rico  would  be  a  far  more  wholesome  place  than  it  is 
at  present. 

Low  Moral  Standards  of  the  Priesthood.  The  immor¬ 
ality  of  the  priests  in  Latin  America  has  always  been  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  more  criticism  than  any  other  phase  of  the  dominant 
religion  of  the  southern  continent.  If  it  is  a  fact  that  the 
clergy  are  as  generally  immoral  as  some  people  say  they  are, 
then  the  case  for  the  Catholic  Church  is  ended.  No  matter 
what  claims  of  sacerdotal  exemption  the  Church  may  hold  for 
its  clergy  a  gospel  for  the  pure  in  heart  cannot  be  proclaimed 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


31 


by  immoral  preachers  any  more  than  a  stream  can  rise  higher 
than  its  source.  It  should  be  said,  though,  that  anybody  vis¬ 
iting  Porto  Rico  would  not  find  every  priest  a  profligate. 
Whatever  the  case  in  Spanish  days,  under  the  spur  of  the 
American  priest  and  of  evangelical  competition,  the  cura  of  a 
parish  is  usually  a  fairly  decent  man. 

Religious  Terms  Made  Meaningless.  A  traveler  in  a 
Latin  land  or  a  student  of  any  Latin  literature  is  bound  to 
be  impressed  by  the  occurrence  and  recurrence  of  religious 
phrases.  If  the  phrases  convey  the  same  idea  as  they  do  to 
the  Anglo-Saxon,  the  traveler  or  student  may  rightly  assume 
that  either  the  people  are  a  very  religious  or  a  very  profane 
people.  That  these  expressions  have  very  little  to  do  with 
their  spiritual  life  is  one  of  the  first  conclusions  of  the  per¬ 
manent  resident  in  these  lands. 

Professor  Ross  in  his  travels  through  South  America  tells 
of  seeing  the  “Butcher  Shop  of  the  Holy  Spirit”  over  a  meat 
shop,  of  reading  an  advertisement  for  “The  Wine  of  the  Last 
Supper,”  and  of  another  announcement  of  a  new  brand  of 
cigarettes  with  the  twelve  disciples  puffing  away  at  them  and 
Judas  remarking,  “If  I  had  had  this  kind  of  cigarette  to 
smoke,  I  never  would  have  betrayed  him.” 

The  American  influence  in  Porto  Rico  has  to  a  great  extent 
done  away  with  this  crudeness,  yet  a  newly  arrived  mission¬ 
ary  will  be  greeted  by  his  compatriots  in  business  or  govern¬ 
ment  service  by  a  felicitation  that  the  language  will  not  be 
hard  for  him  to  learn  because  half  the  words  are  cuss  words 
that  the  missionary  will  have  no  use  for.  A  thorough  study 
of  the  Spanish  language  and  nature  would  indicate  that  there 
was  no  such  thing  as  swearing.  “Ave  Maria  Santissima” 
which  would  literally  mean  “the  most  holy  mother  of  God” 
is  translated  in  a  recent  grammar  as  “Good  gracious.”  When 
a  Porto  Rican  cannot  express  his  indignation  by  the  ordinary 
vocabulary  and  gesture,  he  has  no  cuss  words  on  which  to  fall 
back — he  simply  explodes. 

All  of  this  indicates  a  most  difficult  phase  of  the  mission- 


32 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


ary’s  work.  He  has  to  engender  into  the  sacred  words  and 
phrases  zvhich  are  bandied  about  in  ordinary  conversation  a 
meaning  similar  to  that  held  by  the  evangelical  Christian  in 
other  parts  of  the  zvorld. 

The  usual  penance  inflicted  by  the  Catholic  priest  on  one 
of  his  flock  who  has  visited  the  missionary’s  house  is  to  have 
him  repeat  the  Lord’s  prayer  over  a  number  of  times,  the  num¬ 
ber  depending  on  how  many  times  the  offence  has  been  re¬ 
peated.  The  speed  with  which  these  “Padre  Nuestros”  are 
rattled  off  and  the  fun  the  miserable  offenders  have  in  rac¬ 
ing  through  them  are  only  paralleled  by  the  absolute  lack  of 
any  spiritual  aid  they  expect  to  receive  from  the  exercise. 

Even  the  names  of  these  people  make  the  missionary’s  task 
more  difficult.  Often  a  child  is  named  for  the  patron  saint 
of  the  day  on  which  he  was  born  and  in  addition  will  usually 
have  some  Biblical  cognomen  added.  Popular  names  for  the 
girls  are  Resurecion,  Concepcion,  Asuncion.  During  the  first 
few  months  of  the  writer’s  stay  in  Porto  Rico  he  was  engaged 
in  the  erection  of  a  mission  building  in  a  mountain  town.  The 
chief  carpenter’s  name  was  Jesus  while  his  peon’s  name  was 
John  the  Baptist.  The  new  missionary  never  could  get  used 
to  sending  John  the  Baptist  to  look  for  Jesus  even  though 
the  Spanish  pronunciation  helped  a  great  deal.  He  had  to 
invent  nicknames  for  the  men. 

The  assignment  of  an  original  prayer  is  a  favorite  one 
among  the  Spanish  teachers  of  the  Island.  “This  kind  of 
composition,”  they  say,  “lends  itself  to  the  Spanish  nature.” 
The  productions  that  emanate  from  the  pens  of  these  Porto 
Rican  adolescents  are  remarkable.  Some  of  the  prayers  of 
the  village  scamp,  who  has  not  seen  the  inside  of  a  church 
since  he  was  baptized  would,  so  far  as  lofty  diction  is  con¬ 
cerned,  compare  favorably  with  the  productions  of  the  Church 
Fathers. 

But  the  gospel  changes  this  phase  of  life  also.  It  is  not 
only  one  of  the  most  gracious  works  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  but 
it  is  at  the  same  time  one  of  the  greatest  joys  of  the  Chris- 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


33 


tian  worker  to  find  eventually  that  with  a  changed  heart 
comes  a  changed  vocabulary.  Many  names  and  phrases  which 
before  were  treated  so  lightly  have  taken  on  a  new  spiritual 
meaning. 

Spiritism.  One  form  of  belief  that  has  greatly  affected 
the  religious  life  of  the  Island  is  Spiritism,  the  principal  doc¬ 
trines  of  which  are: 

1.  A  pantheistic  idea  of  God,  and  that  complete  absorption  with  him 
is  the  goal  of  human  endeavor. 

2.  That  this  absorption  into  the  infinite  is  at  the  end  of  an  indefinite 
number  of  reincarnations. 

3.  That  salvation  comes  from  good  works — that  the  number  of  rein¬ 
carnations  is  determined  by  the  good  works  one  has  to  his  credit. 

4.  That  all  will  be  eventually  saved  and  consequently  there  will  be  no 
future  punishment. 

5.  That  there  should  be  a  respect  for  the  Bible,  and  a  belief  in  those 
parts  which  favor  spiritism. 

6.  That  Jesus  Christ  was  one  of  the  world’s  greatest  teachers. 

7.  That  there  is  spiritual  healing  of  sickness  by  medicine  prescribed 
by  the  good  spirits. 

8.  That  it  is  possible  to  communicate  with  the  dead. 

9.  That  Love  should  dominate  all  relations  of  this  life,  and  that  Light 
and  Truth  should  be  the  aim  of  all  those  living  on  this  plane  of  exist¬ 
ence. 

The  government  of  the  cult  is  very  loose  and  simple.  In 
every  important  town  there  are  spiritualistic  centers  and  these 
centers  are  grouped  together  in  an  insular  association.  There 
are  but  few  professional  preachers,  or  “orators,”  as  they  are 
called.  This  phase  of  worship  is  left  to  the  prompting  of 
the  spirits  during  the  session.  There  are  of  course  mediums 
at  every  center — intermediaries  between  this  material  world 
and  the  spiritual  one. 

In  a  general  way  the  spiritists  of  Porto  Rico  may  be  divided 
into  two  classes.  The  intellectual  and  well-to-do,  and  the  poor 
and  ignorant.  The  first  group  are  now,  for  the  most  part, 
reorganizing  themselves  into  theosophical  societies.  The 
poorer  members  of  this  sect,  and  there  are  stretches  of  coun¬ 
try  and  whole  sections  of  towns  where  spiritism  reigns, — 
practice  the  cult  in  its  crudest  forms. 

That  these  forms  of  belief  appeal  to  such  a  susceptible 
people  as  the  Porto  Ricans  is  not  at  all  strange.  A  clear  cut 


34 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


distinction  between  the  real  and  the  unreal  does  not  exist 
for  the  unsophisticated  inhabitant.  He  will  relate  his  dreams 
as  if  they  were  part  of  his  conscious  experience,  or  he  will 
repeat  a  neighborhood  ghost  story  without  the  slightest  doubt 
as  to  the  historical  accuracy  of  the  legend. 

In  such  a  fertile  field  as  this  the  propagator  of  a  belief  in 
which  the  communication  with  loved  ones  is  the  most  dis¬ 
tinguishing  feature  has  an  easy  task ;  especially  when  he  as¬ 
sumes  occult  powers  to  heal  the  sick,  to  peer  into  the  future 
and  to  restore  lost  property.  Poor  people  will  travel  from 
all  parts  of  the  Island  on  foot  to  their  favorite  medium  when 
they  are  afflicted  with  some  malady.  Should  the  medium  fail 
to  restore  them,  it  will  be  due  to  some  faulty  spiritual  con¬ 
nection,  and  should,  by  chance,  the  invalid  recover  his  health 
the  particular  medium  will  claim  all  the  credit,  and  her  fame 
will  go  forth  throughout  the  land  as  a  successful  intermediary. 

The  moral  effects  of  spiritism  as  it  appears  in  Porto  Rico 
are  not  happy.  Many  spiritists  live  nearly  as  they  please. 
There  is  no  counterpart  to  the  wonderfully  vivifying  evan¬ 
gelical  doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith.  When  eventually  the 
great  delusion  of  a  self-determined  salvation  has  dawned  many 
of  them  drift  into  complete  indifference.  Not  a  few  how¬ 
ever,  turn  to  the  Protestant  Church,  and  by  a  simple  trust 
in  an  infinite  Savior  find  the  Love,  the  Light  and  the  Truth. 

Rationalism  and  Indifference.  The  purely  negative 
side  of  the  religious  life  of  Porto  Rico  is  expressed  in  the 
rationalism  and  indifference  of  the  Island. 

The  rationalists  or  freethinkers  (fibre  pensadores)  theoret¬ 
ically  believe  in  a  material  conception  of  the  universe.  They 
profess  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  anything  that  savors  of 
the  spiritual.  Practically  they  have  very  little  to  show  from 
a  constructive  point  of  view.  As  an  organization  they  are 
small  in  numbers,  but  they  have  many  semi-adherents  through¬ 
out  the  Island.  Their  periodical  has  a  large  circulation.  Judg¬ 
ing  from  this  paper  the  efforts  of  the  freethinkers  are  largely 
spent  in  exposing  the  abuses  of  the  Catholic  Church.  The 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


35 


Protestants,  however  come  in  for  their  share.  Cheap  Biblical 
criticism  appears  every  week. 

The  “libre  pensador”  preach  the  philosophy  with  which 
Tom  Paine  clarified  the  atmosphere  more  than  a  century  ago 
and  with  which  Robert  Ingersoll  stirred  the  American  nation 
last  generation.  Today  we  have  neither  a  lifeless  Deism  nor 
a  deadening  orthodoxy,  at  least  in  our  evangelical  world.  In 
making  the  assumption  that  these  former  conditions  hold  good 
today,  the  rationalists  are  simply  attacking  men  of  straw  of 
their  own  manufacture. 

Los  indiferentes — those  that  are  indififerent  to  any  kind  of 
religious  appeal,  from  a  religious  point  of  view,  comprise 
the  largest  section  of  the  population  of  the  Island.  In  the 
survey  an  “indiferente”  was  one  who  had  not  attended  any 
religious  service  for  three  years.  This  indifference  is  due 
largely  to  the  fact  that,  having  seen  the  inability  of  the 
Catholic  Church  to  minister  to  the  spiritual  needs  of  the 
people  and  thinking  that  the  Protestant  Church  and  all  other 
religious  organizations  have  the  same  deficiency,  many  peo¬ 
ple  prefer  to  have  no  religious  affiliations. 

The  membership  of  the  evangelical  churches  of  the  Island 
is  for  the  most  part  derived  from  these  people  who  had  pro¬ 
fessed  an  indifference  to  religion.  Every  local  church,  of 
course,  has  a  number  of  members  on  its  rolls  who,  in  spite  of 
injunction  and  threat  of  priest,  have  come  into  the  fold  of 
Protestantism  directly  from  the  Catholic  Church,  and  every 
local  church  has,  furthermore,  those  who  have  left  behind 
the  vagaries  of  spiritism  and  have  stepped  directly  from  Cen¬ 
ter  to  Church.  However,  the  chief  source  of  supply  is  from 
the  honest  doubters  of  the  Island.  “Los  indiferentes”  not 
only  are  open  to  conviction,  but  very  often  anxious  to  be  con¬ 
vinced.  When  priest,  medium  and  minister  have  an  equal 
opportunity  of  approach,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  that  so 
many  turn  to  the  Gospel  for  the  satisfaction  they  have  so 
long  desired. 


CHAPTER  IV 


Medical  Missions 

Medical  missions  have  become  an  indispensable  part  of 
world  evangelization.  In  Porto  Rico,  the  Christian  minister 
and  the  Christian  doctor  have  started  work  together.  They 
have  demonstrated  during  these  twenty  years,  as  the  Master 
himself  demonstrated  two  thousand  years  ago,  that  the  heal¬ 
ing  of  the  body  and  the  saving  of  the  soul  are  both  Christian 
tasks  and  part  of  the  Great  Commission. 

The  need  of  medical  ministry  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
the  death  rate  of  the  Island  is  thirty-two  per  thousand ;  twice 
that  of  Continental  United  States  and  three  times  that  of  the 
Philippines  and  Hawaii.  This  death  rate  has  increased  so 
much  in  the  past  three  years  that  the  insular  government  has 
petitioned  the  Rockefeller  Foundation  for  a  special  investiga¬ 
tion  of  the  causes.  Furthermore  the  survey  into  the  social 
and  religious  conditions  conducted  by  the  Presb^ery  of  Porto 
Rico  revealed  the  startling  fact  that  three  out  of  five  families 
in  case  of  sickness  cannot  call  in  medical  attendance,  and 
that  the  same  percentage  of  people  die  without  a  doctor  hav¬ 
ing  attended  them.  In  the  country  the  proportion  is  much 
higher.  The  fee  for  a  country  visit  by  a  regular  medical 
practitioner  is  between  $6.00  and  $8.00.  To  the  ignorant 
countryman  earning  from  $.40  to  $1.50  a  day,  these  fees  are 
prohibitive.  He  has  in  many  instances  no  other  recourse 
than  the  accommodating  spiritualistic  medium,  or  some  grosser 
form  of  superstitution. 

Many  good  remedies  exist  in  the  mountain  district  of  the 
Island,  although,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  many  crude, 
harmful  remedies.  Blood-poisoning  and  infections  of  vari¬ 
ous  kinds  are  very  common.  For  their  cure  the  countryman 
will  drink  the  soup  of  boiled  ants’  nests  (comejen)  and  place 
on  the  infected  part  a  mixture  of  olive  oil,  tobacco  and  nut¬ 
meg.  Should  the  children  of  the  family  develop  colds,  the 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


37 


countryman  will  make  bracelets  of  small  unripe  lemons  and 
place  them  on  the  wrists  of  his  children.  For  severe  nervous 
diseases  the  ignorant  farmer  will  take  a  watermelon,  cut  a  hole 
in  one  end  and  place  in  it  his  rings  and  everything  he  has 
that  passes  as  jewelry.  He  will  then  cut  a  smaller  hole  in 
the  other  end  and  catch  the  water  as  it  passes  through.  This 
water  when  taken  is  supposed  to  quiet  the  distraught  nervous 
system. 

One  of  the  hardest  tasks  of  the  man  or  woman  engaged 
in  the  work  of  evangelization  is  to  explain  why  the  Church 
that  he  represents  does  not  pay  more  attention  to  physical 
welfare.  A  brief  review  of  the  principal  diseases  of  Porto 
Rico  will  show  the  great  need  for  medical  missions. 

Infant  Maladies.  Half  of  the  deaths  occur  among  chil¬ 
dren  under  five  years  of  age.  The  number  equals  the  death 
rate  of  all  ages  in  Continental  United  States.  According  to 
the  survey  of  the  Interchurch  World  Movement  the  rate  of 
infant  mortality  in  Porto  Rico  exceeds  that  of  India.  This 
is  not  due  to  the  climate.  There  are  no  extremes  of  heat  or 
cold,  there  are  no  sudden  changes  of  temperature.  It  is  an 
almost  out  of  door  existence  for  the  youngsters.  The  con¬ 
ditions  which  contribute  to  this  heavy  mortality  are  poverty, 
ignorance,  and  lack  of  medical  care.  More  medical  missions 
would  soon  sweep  away  the  deadly  ignorance  with  which 
child  life  is  surrounded  in  this  tropical  Island,  and  check  the 
many  diseases  transmissible  from  parent  to  offspring. 

Tuberculosis.  Tuberculosis  ranks  second  in  the  mortal¬ 
ity  table.  Again,  so  far  as  the  Island  itself  is  concerned, 
there  is  no  reason  why  the  White  Plague  should  cause  such 
ravages.  Malnutrition,  poverty,  and  ignorance  have  combined 
again  to  overbalance  these  natural  advantages.  In  an  investi¬ 
gation  in  the  city  of  San  Juan  a  few  years  ago,  it  was  found 
that  in  one  street  twelve  people  out  of  every  hundred  died  of 
tuberculosis. 

Malaria.  Malaria  is  not  a  malignant  disease  but  in  Porto 
Rico  it  is  a  constant  deterrent  to  the  life  of  the  Island.  Al- 


38 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


though  only  a  little  over  five  per  cent  of  the  total  mortality 
is  attributable  to  malaria,  few  are  the  families  which  this 
malady  has  not  attacked.  Death  rate  and  illness  alone  do  not 
indicate  the  havoc  wrought  among  the  people  afflicted.  As 
an  economic  handicap  its  effect  has  been  shown  by  an  investi¬ 
gation  made  by  Dr.  D.  L.  Van  Dine  in  a  large  plantation  in 
Louisiana  which  contained  seventy-four  tenant  families  with 
a  total  population  of  two-hundred  and  ninety-nine.  From 
May  to  October,  1914,  there  were  nine-hundred  and  seventy 
days  of  actual  illness  from  malaria  reported  to  a  doctor. 
Forty-eight  of  the  seventy-four  families  were  represented. 
There  were  also  many  other  cases  not  reported  to  the  phy¬ 
sician.  Dr.  Van  Dine  estimated  that  there  were  four-hun¬ 
dred  and  eighty-seven  work  days  lost  by  cases  not  reported. 
Three-hundred  and  eighty-five  days  were  lost  on  the  part  of 
the  adults  who  assisted  in  taking  care  of  the  sick.  During 
this  period  there  were  six  and  a  half  days  lost  for  every  case  of 
malaria. 

Uncinariasis  (Hookworm).  The  most  prevalent  dis¬ 
ease  in  Porto  Rico  is  the  so-called  “Hookworm.”  The  investi¬ 
gating  commission  from  the  Rockefeller  Foundation  recently 
declared  that  the  Island  was  “infested  by  hookworm.”  “There 
is  more  hookworm  in  Porto  Rico  than  in  any  other  country 
with  the  possible  exceptions  of  India  and  Ceylon.”  Compara¬ 
tively  few  deaths  are  attributable  directly  to  this  malady.  Its 
results  are  seen  principally  in  the  social  and  economic  life  of 
the  Island.  The  power  of  resistance  of  the  person  afflicted 
is  reduced  almost  to  nothing.  The  great  tubercular  death- 
rate  for  instance,  is  due  largely  to  this  enervating  effect  of 
“hookworm.”  Drs.  Heiser  and  Grant  of  the  Rockefeller 
Foundation  in  their  report  say: 

“There  can  be  no  question  that  wide-spread  uncinariasis 
infection  is  a  serious  menace  to  the  economic  life  of  Porto 
Rico  and  if  the  people  of  the  Island  are  to  keep  pace  with 
their  competitors,  it  is  necessary  that  this  unnecessary  burden 
be  lifted  from  their  shoulders.  Even  light  infection  with 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


39 


hookworm  causes  serious  mental  retardation.  It  is  not  too 
much  to  state  that  much  of  the  money  that  is  now  being  pro¬ 
vided  for  schools  is  lost  because  of  the  defective  mentality 
produced  by  the  hookworm  disease  which  renders  the  pupils 
incapable  of  assimilating  instruction.” 

The  time  for  another  active  and  continuous  campaign 
against  hookworm  is  ripe. 

Porto  Rican  Efforts.  In  combating  transmissible  dis¬ 
eases,  the  Department  of  Health  has  had  conspicuous  success. 
In  different  parts  of  the  Island,  there  are  special  stations  for 
the  treatment  of  such  diseases  as  tuberculosis,  hookworm,  and 
malaria.  Against  malaria  and  its  mosquito,  an  active  cam¬ 
paign  is  at  present  being  carried  on.  The  fight  against  the 
White  Plague  is  also  led  by  this  Department,  and  although 
there  is  still  a  great  deal  of  apathy  to  overcome  on  the  part 
of  the  general  public,  much  progress  has  been  made.  A  few 
months  ago  $100,000.00  was  raised  by  public  subscription 
to  augment  the  insular  appropriation  for  a  tuberculosis  hos¬ 
pital.  This  hospital  will  consist  of  at  least  two  hundred 
detached  cottages.  Each  cottage  to  cost  $3,000.00  and  to 
accommodate  four  patients. 

Although  the  fight  against  hookworm  does  not  proceed  with 
the  same  pace  as  it  did  during  the  first  years  of  the  occupa¬ 
tion  this  enervating  disease  is  being  combated  all  over  the 
Island.  Stations  for  its  treatment  are  operated  in  37  dif¬ 
ferent  towns  and  during  the  year  there  were  20,590  cases 
treated.  With  the  help  this  campaign  is  likely  to  receive 
from  the  Rockefeller  Foundation,  it  is  hoped  that  this  dis¬ 
ease  will  be  stamped  out. 

Every  town  has  its  commissioner  of  health,  its  sanitary 
inspector,  and  its  municipal  doctor,  working  under  the  Com¬ 
missioner  of  Health.  However,  the  salary  of  the  municipal 
doctor  is  so  small  that  often  he  delegates  his  duties  to  a 
subordinate. 

Municipal  Hospitals.  Prompted  by  a  noble  impulse,  but 
without  the  necessary  knowledge  or  money  to  maintain  them 


40 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


the  municipalities  built  hospitals.  Though  nominally  in  charge 
of  the  municipal  doctors  these  hospitals  are  quite  often  given 
over  to  the  care  of  a  “practicante’' — a  minor  surgeon — and 
the  sisters  of  the  local  Catholic  Church,  or  convent.  This 
is  the  only  recourse  the  common  people  have  for  hospital 
treatment.  The  only  good  that  can  be  said  of  these  municipal 
hospitals  is  that  they  are  one  or  two  degrees  better  than  the 
miserable  houses  from  which  most  of  the  patients  come.  They 
are  used  as  a  last  resort  and  the  attitude  of  the  people  to  them 
is  indicated  in  the  1918  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Health. 
Speaking  of  the  difficulties  of  getting  patients  to  attend  his 
special  malarial  hospital  in  the  town  of  Barceloneta,  the  Com¬ 
missioner  said,  “The  stubborn  and  to  a  certain  extent,  natural 
resistance  of  the  peasants  to  submit  to  medical  treatment  in 
the  hospitals,  can  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  hospitals 
maintained  by  the  municipalities  are  generally  in  a  deplorable 
condition,  and  the  patient  who  is  unfortunate  enough  to  enter 
one  for  the  first  time  firmly  makes  up  his  mind  upon  return¬ 
ing  home  not  to  avail  himself  again  of  this  service.  For  this 
reason  the  physician  in  charge  of  the  malarial  hospital  and 
the  sanitary  inspector  were  often  compelled  to  request  the 
assistance  of  the  police  to  compel  malarial  patients  to  enter 
the  hospital.” 

What  the  Missions  Are  Doing:  San  Juan  Presbyterian 
Hospital.  The  work  out  of  which  grew  the  San  Juan  Pres¬ 
byterian  Hospital,  began  in  1901,  when  Dr.  Grace  Atkins  was 
sent  to  work  among  the  poor  of  Santurce,  a  suburb  of  San 
Juan.  A  dispensary  was  soon  established  and  in  1902  another 
missionary  came  to  help.  So  great  was  the  need  for  a  hos¬ 
pital  that  in  the  year  1903,  Dr.  Atkins  went  to  the  States  to 
appeal  for  the  necessary  funds  to  establish  the  institution.  The 
money  was  forthcoming  and  in  August  of  that  year,  work 
on  the  hospital  was  commenced,  and  was  finished  in  a  few 
months.  This  building  was  constructed  of  wood  and  con¬ 
tained  45  beds.  The  need  of  a  larger  and  better  equipped 
building,  apparent  from  the  beginning,  was  emphasized  as 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


41 


time  passed  because  of  its  rapid  deterioration  and  because 
of  tropical  rain  and  sun.  The  present  hospital  finished  in 
1917  was  erected  by  the  Woman’s  Board  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  with  the  help  of  a  generous  contribution  by  the  Men’s 
Board  from  the  Kennedy  Fund.  This  building  is  constructed 
of  reinforced  concrete,  has  a  capacity  of  85  beds  and  is  splen¬ 
didly  equipped  and  appointed. 

Patients  come  from  all  over  Porto  Rico,  and  from  the 
neighboring  islands.  During  the  year  1919,  20,308  persons 
were  given  hospital  treatment  while  in  the  clinic,  27,813  cases 
were  treated.  Patients  are  expected  to  pay  when  able  and 
from  the  ward  cases  in  this  same  year  $4,422.00  was  received, 
from  the  private  rooms  $21,411.00  and  from  the  dispensary 
$12,531.00.  The  total  receipts  for  the  year  were  approxi¬ 
mately  enough  to  pay  the  operating  expenses  of  year  with  the 
exception  of  the  salaries. 

The  last  report  of  the  institution  says:  “The  purpose  of 
the  Hospital  is  to  do  Medical  Missionary  work ;  to  afford  a 
place  where  the  sick  poor  can  receive  proper  medical  treat¬ 
ment  under  the  influence  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ;  to 
furnish  needed  hospital  accommodations  to  Porto  Ricans  and 
Americans  who  can  afford  to  pay  for  them ;  and  to  train 
native  girls  to  become  skilled  nurses  to  care  for  their  own 
people  throughout  the  Island.” 

The  hospital  has  completely  changed  the  social  status  of 
the  nursing  profession.  In  Spanish  times,  the  professional 
nurse  was  ostracized  from  the  social  life  of  the  Island.  Prac¬ 
tically  the  whole  of  the  work  was  done  by  the  Catholic  sis¬ 
ters  who,  though  inspired  by  the  best  of  motives,  lacked 
lamentably  when  it  came  to  training  and  ability.  Today  the 
social  barrier  has  been  almost  completely  broken  down.  Girls 
from  the  best  families  have  taken  their  training  as  nurses  at 
this  institution.  Upwards  of  a  hundred  girls  have  graduated 
from  the  training  school. 

Presbyterian  Hospital,  Mayaguez.  Until  the  earth¬ 
quake  demolished  the  building,  there  was  a  Presbyterian  hos- 


42 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


pital  of  21  beds  in  the  city  of  Mayaguez.  This  hospital,  with 
the  whole  of  the  densely  populous  western  end  of  the  Island 
to  look  after,  was  always  taxed  to  capacity.  Plans  are  already 
made  to  rebuild  this  plant.  It  is  hoped  within  a  few  months 
to  reopen  work. 

What  Other  Denominations  Are  Doing.  The  Congre- 
gationalists  have  a  hospital  at  Humacao.  This  hospital  has 
a  capacity  of  only  16  beds,  but  it  reaches  2,000  patients  a  month 
through  its  dispensary  service. 

The  Episcopal  Church  maintains  at  Ponce  a  hospital  with  a 
capacity  of  53  beds.  Five  doctors  and  23  nurses  are  employed. 
It  is  the  only  mission  hospital  on  the  south  coast  of  the  Island 
and  many  hundreds  of  patients  are  benefited  by  its  ministry. 

The  United  Brethren  Church  is  planning  medical  service 
at  two  centers  at  each  of  which  they  expect  to  place  a  doctor 
and  three  trained  Porto  Rican  nurses.  In  this  manner  they 
hope  to  be  able  to  cover  the  entire  territory  for  which  their 
denomination  is  responsible. 

Extension  of  Medical  Missions  Essential.  The  medi¬ 
cal  work  in  Porto  Rico  should  be  extended.  Of  this  fact 
every  worker,  native  or  continental,  is  convinced.  To  under¬ 
take  the  big  evangelistic  campaigns  called  for  by  the  programs 
of  the  forward  looking  movements  of  the  different  churches 
and  ignore  the  acute  and  pressing  need  of  medical  missions 
would  be  to  court  failure,  and  to  be  blind  to  the  example  of 
the  great  Physician. 


CHAPTER  V 


Educational  and  Community  Work 

(a)  EDUCATIONAL 

Neither  in  the  history  of  the  United  States,  nor  in  the 
history  of  Latin  America  is  there  anything  that  will  quite 
compare  with  the  educational  progress  of  Porto  Rico  since 
the  American  Occupation.  Less  than  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago  the  school  system  was  church  ridden  in  its  operation  and 
mediaeval  in  its  organization.  Today  it  is  the  most  free  and 
democratic  thing  in  the  life  of  the  Island. 

When  the  Americans  took  possession,  they  found  in  most 
towns  school  boards  composed  of  the  Alcalde  (mayor),  the 
local  priest,  and  the  heads  of  three  families.  These  local 
school  boards  had  practically  no  funds  at  their  disposal,  and 
as  a  result  teachers  remained  unpaid  many  months.  The  sub¬ 
jects  taught  were  reading,  writing,  elementary  arithmetic,  cate¬ 
chism,  and  Spanish  grammar.  The  classification  of  the  pupils 
was  left  to  the  teachers,  and  as  a  rule  there  were  only  four 
grades  in  each  school.  As  to  the  method  of  teaching,  the 
invariable  rule  was  for  the  student  to  learn  by  heart  the  text¬ 
book  assignment,  and  the  highest  mark  was  given  to  the  stu¬ 
dent  who  omitted  the  least  words  in  reciting  the  lesson.  “Cor¬ 
poral  punishment,  abnormal  positions,  and  detention  after 
school  were  the  most  common  forms  of  punishment  used.” 
A  good  summary  of  the  antiquated  methods  is  given  by  Dr. 
Lindsey,  the  second  Commissioner  of  Education  under  Ameri¬ 
can  rule : 

“The  work  done  under  the  Spanish  school  system  scarcely 
constituted  anything  worthy  of  being  called  a  school.  There 
was  no  uniform  course  of  study,  no  attempt  at  rules,  regula¬ 
tions,  or  order;  no  thought  of  the  rights  of  the  child;  no 
endeavor  to  apply  pedagogical  principles  or  to  furnish  teach¬ 
ers  with  an  adequate  equipment  for  their  work.  A  rural 
teacher  lived  with  his  family  in  the  school  house  and  did  as 


44 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


he  pleased  with  his  pupils,  frequently  not  teaching  them  at  all 
himself,  but  hiring  a  substitute  or  delegating  one  of  the  older 
and  brighter  pupils  to  teach  under  his  general  instruction, 
while  he  drew  his  salary  and  sometimes  absented  himself 
from  school  for  considerable  periods.  There  were  but  two 
school  supervisors  for  the  entire  Island  and  they  made  but 
one  visit  a  year  to  each  school,  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  exam¬ 
ining  the  pupils  in  the  catechism  and  doctrine  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.” 

From  this  condition  which  prevailed  in  1899  remarkable 
progress  has  been  made.  In  the  1919  report  the  present  Com¬ 
missioner  tabulates  the  advance  in  the  following  lucid  manner : 

Two  Decades  of  Educational  Progress  in  Porto  Rico. 


Population  . 

Of  school  age  . 

Attending  school  . 

Of  school  age  not  in  school . 

Teachers  . 

District  supervisors  . 

Rural  barrios  without  schools.... 

Public  school  buildings  . 

Rented  buildings  . 

Total  schoolrooms  . 

School  expenditures  . 

For  elementary  schools  . 

For  high  schools . 

For  university  . 

Expenditure  per  inhabitant  . 

Percentage  of  adult  illiteracy  ; 


1898-99 

1918-19 

Increase 

953,243 

1,263,474 

310,231 

322,393 

434,381 

111,231 

*21,873 

160,794 

138,921 

300,520 

273,587 

t26,933 

525 

2,984 

2,459 

16 

41 

25 

426 

20 

1406 

0 

529 

529 

All 

1,195 

.... 

525 

2,923 

+2,398 

$288,008 

$2,467,703 

$2,179,605 

274,203 

2,077,903 

1,803,700 

0 

128,306 

128,306 

0 

162,232 

162,232 

$0.30 

$1.94 

$1.64 

1899  .  79.9% 

1910  .  66.5% 

1919  (estimate)  .  54.0% 


There  still  remains  a  great  deal  to  be  done  for  the  educa¬ 
tional  welfare  of  the  Island.  Over  half  of  the  population  can¬ 
not  read  or  write,  and  there  is  still  a  third  of  the  population 
of  school  age  who  do  not  attend  school.  This  illiteracy  and 
the  absence  from  school  of  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  is  not  due  to  a  lack  of  desire  for  more  educational  facili¬ 
ties.  Dr.  Miller,  the  present  Commissioner  says:  “The  best 


•  One  report  gives  enrollment  as  29,182. 
t  Decrease. 

t  Includes  rented  rooms. 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


45 


evidence  that  the  American  school  system  established  in  Porto 
Rico  is  successful  is  the  constant  and  increasing  desire  of  the 
people  to  see  it  extended.  The  requests  for  additional  schools 
are  far  in  excess  of  the  present  ability  of  the  people  to  sup¬ 
ply  and  maintain.” 

Mission  Schools.  During  the  first  years  of  occupancy  the 
mission  schools  aimed  to  do  almost  the  same  work  as  the 
public  schools.  As  the  school  system  developed  the  emphasis 
has  been  rather  to  supplement  than  to  duplicate  the  work  of 
the  Department  of  Education.  The  educational  institutions 
of  the  Protestant  Mission  seek  to  supply  a  need  that  the 
Insular  authorities  make  no  pretense  of  meeting. 

Pol5rtechnic  Institute.  Polytechnic  Institute  was  inaugu¬ 
rated  in  the  year  1912  by  Rev.  J.  W.  Harris,  the  Presbyterian 
missionary  of  the  San  German  district  as  a  part  of  his  regular 
missionary  duties,  with  funds  which  he  raised  in  Porto  Rico 
and  in  the  United  States.  Four  years  later  the  work  had  so 
developed  that  he  relinquished  his  other  missionary  duties 
and  devoted  himself  to  the  development  and  supervision  of 
the  school. 

The  object  of  this  school  is  to  develop  the  mental,  moral 
and  physical  welfare  of  its  students.  The  courses  of  instruc¬ 
tion  include  the  regular  grammar  and  high  school  courses 
with  additional  work  in  Bible  and  manual  training.  The  cur¬ 
riculum  has  not  only  been  approved  by  the  Insular  Depart¬ 
ment  of  Education,  but  has  received  the  warm  commenda¬ 
tion  of  educational  authorities  in  the  United  States.  Gradu¬ 
ates  of  the  high  school  course  can  enter  without  examina¬ 
tion  many  of  our  northern  colleges. 

There  are  three  things  in  which  this  school  is  unique.  The 
first  is  the  inexpensive  nature  of  the  institution.  For  fifteen 
dollars  a  month  a  student  receives  his  instruction,  his  food, 
his  laundry,  and  his  room.  In  some  cases  this  amount  is 
still  further  reduced  by  scholarships  to  properly  qualified  boys 
and  girls.  In  a  land  where  the  old  Spanish  idea  of  education 
for  the  wealthy  held  sway,  this  factor  is  a  veritable  boon  for 


46 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


the  ambitious  youth  of  the  Island.  Young  people  will  often 
come  to  the  Institute  for  admittance  with  nothing  but  the 
clothes  on  their  back,  and  after  they  are  in  the  school  by  dint 
of  their  industry,  will  scrape  together  the  few  dollars  that 
will  maintain  them  through  their  course  of  study. 

Another  innovation  of  the  Polytechnic  Institute  to  the  edu¬ 
cational  life  of  the  Island  is  the  requirement  that  each  stu¬ 
dent,  boy  or  girl,  shall  do  at  least  three  hours  of  manual  work 
every  day.  In  a  land  and  in  a  civilization  where  education 
was  supposed  to  raise  one  above  manual  labor,  this  feature 
was  startling,  but  realizing  its  cultural  and  disciplinary  values, 
the  wealthiest  families  are  now  sending  their  boys  and  girls 
to  the  Institute.  There  is  nothing  indefinite  about  this  manual 
work;  the  entire  kitchen  and  laundry  force  is  made  up  of  the 
girls  of  the  school  while  the  boys  build  the  roads,  cultivate  the 
fields,  and  construct  the  buildings  of  the  institution. 

The  third  definite  contribution  of  the  Institute  is  that  of 
co-education.  The  Polytechnic  Institute  is  the  only  co-edu- 
cational  boarding  school  in  Latin  America.  Its  success  can 
be  judged  by  the  fact  that  until  a  few  years  ago  the  education 
of  women  in  any  kind  of  public  school  was  frowned  upon. 
At  the  time  of  the  American  occupation  in  1898  there  were 
only  7,158  girls  enrolled  in  the  public  schools  of  the  whole 
Island  while  in  one  municipality  there  was  not  a  girl  enrolled. 
In  the  eight  years  of  the  Institute’s  history,  there  has  not  been 
a  serious  disciplinary  problem  because  of  the  co-educational 
nature  of  the  Institute.  On  the  other  hand,  distinct  advan¬ 
tages  in  the  way  of  a  normal  social  life  have  arisen  from  it. 

At  present  the  Institute  begins  its  course  of  study  in  the  fifth 
grade  and  continues  through  the  high  school.  It  has  already 
graduated  some  fifty  young  people  from  the  secondary  school 
and  a  larger  number  from  the  eighth  grade.  The  graduates 
go  directly  into  business,  or  continue  their  course  in  the  col¬ 
leges  of  the  States,  or  enter  some  local  professional  school. 
There  is  a  great  demand  for  a  Christian  college  in  Porto  Rico 
from  churches  and  general  public  alike.  “La  Universidad  de 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


47 


las  Antillas”  has  a  ring  about  it  that  particularly  appeals  to  the 
ears  of  these  insular  people.  That  such  a  University  should 
be  developed  from  the  present  Polytechnic  Institute  is  a  point 
upon  which  every  mission  worker  is  agreed. 

Evangelical  Seminary  of  Porto  Rico.  The  training  of 
a  native  ministry  is  a  task  that  faces  any  mission  from  its 
incipiency.  As  the  work  "develops  the  scope  and  method  of 
the  training  varies.  In  the  early  days  instruction  received 
from  individual  missionaries  sufficed.  Later  training  schools 
were  established ;  and  finally,  when  the  work  warranted  it, 
a  regular  theological  seminary  arose  with  prescribed  courses 
of  study  and  entrance  requirements. 

The  last  stage  of  this  development  in  Porto  Rico  was  reached 
after  twenty  years  of  missionary  work.  In  the  fall  of  1919 
and  in  the  town  of  Rio  Piedras  near  the  University  of  Porto 
Rico,  the  Evangelical  Seminary  of  Porto  Rico  was  opened. 
The  seminary  is  a  cooperative  effort  of  the  Baptist,  Congre¬ 
gational,  Disciple,  Presbyterian,  Methodist,  and  United  Breth¬ 
ren  churches.  The  new  institution  opened  with  twenty-five 
students  with  a  perfect  spirit  of  good  fellowship  between 
the  representatives  of  the  different  churches. 

This  piece  of  cooperative  work  brought  to  the  evangelistic 
work  of  the  Island  some  very  definite  benefits : 

1.  Better  instruction  than  was  possible  in  )the  smaller 
institutions. 

2.  The  educational  advantages  of  the  nearby  University. 

3.  The  placing  of  Porto  Rico  in  the  van  of  the  Latin 
American  evangelical  educational  forces. 

4.  A  great  impetus  to  the  development  of  a  native  uni¬ 
versity.  A  high  school  course,  or  its  equivalent  is  required 
for  entrance.  This,  for  Porto  Rico  in  its  present  stage  of 
educational  development,  is  a  rather  high  standard,  although 
it  may  be  raised  still  higher  in  the  near  future. 

Graduates  from  the  different  training  schools  that  formed 
the  new  union  are  already  filling  the  important  pastorates 
of  the  island.  Their  success  may  be  indicated  by  the  fact 


48 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


that  in  one  mission  in  1914  there  were  twelve  continental 
missionaries  while  at  present  (1920)  there  are  only  four. 
The  places  of  the  other  eight  have  been  taken  by  the  young 
seminary  graduates.  The  duties  of  a  missionary  are  largely 
pastoral.  He  is  responsible  for  a  local  church  and  its  sur¬ 
rounding  territory.  This  pastoral  work,  naturally  can  be  done 
much  better  by  native  Porto  Ricans, — they  know  the  language 
and  the  people  better.  Our  present  union  seminary  should 
give  us  more  and  better  trained  men  for  this  kind  of  work. 

The  demand  for  more  workers  to  thoroughly  evangelize 
the  Island  cannot  possibly  be  met  for  many  years.  In  addi¬ 
tion  to  this  Porto  Rico  has  been  alloted  the  task  of  evan¬ 
gelizing  the  neighboring  island  of  Santo  Domingo.  Its  strategic 
position  from  a  mission  standpoint  makes  the  Evangelical 
Seminary  of  Porto  Rico  the  logical  center  to  train  Mission 
workers  for  the  whole  of  Central  America  and  the  Spanish 
West  Indies. 

What  Other  Denominations  Are  Doing.  Recently  the 
Baptist  Woman’s  Board  has  opened  the  Hostal  House  at 
Rio  Piedras,  designed  to  provide  a  home  for  girls  attend¬ 
ing  the  University  of  Porto  Rico.  The  building  cost  about 
$30,000.00  and  will  accommodate  30  girls.  It  contains  sleep¬ 
ing  rooms,  large  parlor  and  commodious  porches. 

At  Santurce  the  Blanche  Kellogg  Institute,  established  by 
her  father  as  a  memorial  to  Blanche  Kellogg,  is  a  seminary 
for  young  women  giving  them  the  equivalent  of  a  high  school 
course,  preparing  them  for  home-making  and  training  some 
as  pastors’  assistants  and  missionary  workers.  About  20 
girls  are  in  attendance.  This  Institute  is  maintained  by  the 
American  Missionary  Association  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  but  nearly  every  denomination  on  the  Island  is  rep¬ 
resented  among  the  students  enrolled. 

Parochial  Schools.  Although  the  emphasis  in  the  mis¬ 
sionary  educational  work  has  been  to  supplement  the  work 
of  the  Department  of  Education,  many  of  our  Protestant 
churches  have  opened  schools  that  practically  duplicate  the 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


49 


public  schools  for  the  first  grades.  The  churches  have  done 
this  because  of  the  inability  of  the  Department  of  Educa¬ 
tion  to  provide  sufficient  schools  and  teachers.  These  paro¬ 
chial  schools  receive  a  great  deal  of  help  from  local  citi¬ 
zens  interested  in  the  educational  development  of  the  Island. 

Very  little  of  the  financial  support  of  these  schools  comes 
from  the  mission  boards.  Their  great  value  from  a  mission 
standpoint  is  that  the  church  is  able  to  reach  hundreds  of 
children  who  otherwise  could  never  be  reached. 

Other  than  the  development  of  the  institutions  which  now 
exist  there  is  no  big  educational  program  on  the  part  of  the 
evangelical  churches  of  Porto  Rico,  not  because  they  believe 
that  the  present  condition  of  the  Island  is  satisfactory;  but 
because  they  believe  that  with  adequate  support  the  Insular 
Department  of  Education  can  cope  with  the  situation  better 
than  the  churches.  The  evangelical  workers  are  enthusias¬ 
tically  behind  the  commissioner  of  education  in  his  recom¬ 
mendations  for  special  federal  aid  to  develop  the  present  sys¬ 
tem.  In  his  1919  report  he  says ; 

“The  material  resources  of  the  people  of  Porto  Rico  are 
not  sufficient  to  extend  and  support  the  present  school  system 
in  a  manner  adequate  to  solve  their  educational  problems. 
The  great  defect  of  the  system  is  insufficient  schools  rather 
than  deficiency  of  organization  and  method.  More  schools, 
installed  in  better  buildings  specially  constructed  and  provided 
with  modern  furniture  and  equipment  require  the  expendi¬ 
ture  of  money  that  is  not  and  will  not  be  available  from 
insular  revenues  for  many  years  to  come.  Porto  Rico’s  only 
hope  is  to  secure  Eederal  aid  for  the  extension  and  support 
of  public  education.  Now  that  the  subject  of  Federal  aid  to 
the  States  is  receiving  the  attention  of  Congress  it  is  vitally 
important  that  the  American  citizens  of  Porto  Rico  should 
not  be  overlooked.” 

(b)  COMMUNITY  WORK 

The  distressing  economic  condition  of  Porto  Rico  has  been 
the  source  of  more  recent  publicity  for  the  country  than  any 


50 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


other  factor.  Within  the  short  space  of  three  months,  in  the 
year  1920,  two  scathing  reports  were  issued  by  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Federation  of  Labor  and  the  United  States  Department 
of  Labor  respectively.  In  the  preamble  of  the  Federation 
of  Labor’s  report  Porto  Rico  is  described  as  a  “living  grave¬ 
yard,”  while  from  the  report  of  the  Department  of  Labor  the 
“New  York  World”  is  led  to  state  editorially,  that  sugar  was 
king  of  the  Island  and  that  poverty,  hunger,  disease,  and 
death  are  his  handmaidens. 

Missions  and  the  Economic  Situation.  The  Protes¬ 
tant  missions  of  Porto  Rico  have  a  firm  conviction  that  the 
thorough  evangelization  of  the  Island  will  bring  in  its  train 
a  better  economic  and  industrial  life.  The  Protestant  churches 
have  already  developed  a  vital  interest  in  the  physical  and 
social  welfare  of  their  people.  This  , interest  has  expressed 
itself  in  establishing  Orphanages,  Day  Nurseries,  and  Neigh¬ 
borhood  Houses. 

Marina  Neighborhood  House.  One  of  the  oldest  estab¬ 
lished  community  works  is  that  conducted  in  the  poorest  sec¬ 
tion  of  Mayaguez  by  the  Woman’s  Board  of  Home  Mis¬ 
sions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  It  is  the  Marina  Neigh¬ 
borhood  House  founded  in  a  very  modest  way  by  the  present 
directress  in  the  year  1907.  It  has  developed  to  such  an 
extent  that  at  present  there  are  four  American  workers,  six 
Porto  Rican  workers  and  a  number  of  people,  including  a  phy¬ 
sician,  who  devote  part  of  their  time  to  this  neighborhood 
work.  In  1907  the  enterprise  was  housed  in  a  small  rented 
building;  at  present  the  mission  covers  a  whole  city  block. 

The  work  is  divided  into  the  departments  of  Kindergarten, 
Primary,  Industrial  Classes,  Day  Nursery,  and  Dispensary. 
The  plant  includes  lecture  rooms,  living  quarters  for  the 
workers,  a  community  laundry,  and  a  model  cottage. 

The  Day  Nursery  was  begun  a  number  of  years  ago  as 
a  cooperative  effort  of  some  charitably  disposed  ladies  of 
Mayaguez  who  still  provide  the  necessary  fi/nances.  The 
object  of  the  Nursery  is  to  care  for  the  very  small  children 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


51 


while  their  mothers  are  working  for  the  support  of  the  family. 
Fifty  children  are  cared  for  daily. 

The  Industrial  Department  almost  exclusively  concerns 
itself  with  the  development  of  those  industries  native  to  the 
Island.  The  head  worker  of  the  Neighborhood  House  says: 
“Under  the  Spanish  rule,  many  had  learned  in  the  convents 
to  do  beautiful  embroidery  and  drawn  work.  The  daughters 
of  these  women  had  a  like  desire  to  learn.  Instead  of  the 
convent  they  came  to  the  Protestant  Mission  where  they 
were  not  only  organized  into  classes,  but  were  brought  into 
surroundings  where  they  could  hear  the  ‘Word  able  to  make 
wise  unto  salavation.’  ”  Since  the  establishment  of  this  depart¬ 
ment  more  than  two  hundred  girls  have  been  taught  to  do 
this  native  work  in  such  an  acceptable  manner  that  it  has  a 
market  all  over  the  United  States.  There  is  always  a  long 
list  of  unfilled  orders. 

A  Dispensary  is  conducted  with  a  registered  nurse  who 
devotes  her  whole  time  to  the  work  and  a  doctor  who  devotes 
about  three  hours  a  day.  At  this  dispensary  1,700  patients 
were  treated  last  year,  and  the  nurse  made  3,000  visits. 
When  the  patient  is  able  to  pay  something  for  the  treatment 
he  receives,  the  money  is  accepted,  but  ability  to  pay  is  by 
no  means  a  condition  to  this  healing  ministry. 

In  the  Primary  and  Kindergarten  departments  the  Neigh¬ 
borhood  House  supplies  to  the  immediate  community  what 
the  public  school  authorities  cannot  give.  In  the  school  year 
1920-1921  there  was  an  average  attendance  per  day  in  the 
Primary  department  of  43  children  and  in  the  Kindergarten 
of  50.  A  summer  course  for  the  training  of  kindergarten¬ 
ers  is  now  a  regular  feature.  An  expert  comes  from  the 
States,  and  gives  a  short  course  in  kindergarten  methods  to 
the  Porto  Rican  and  American  workers.  The  courses  are 
graded  so  that  with  two  or  three  summers’  study  a  girl 
receives  a  careful  training.  The  Marina  Neighborhood  House 
is  thus  the  mother  of  many  kindergartens  in  different  parts 
of  the  Island. 


52 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


Neighborhood  House,  Aguadilla,  The  other  Neighbor¬ 
hood  House  under  the  direction  of  the  Presbyterian  Woman’s 
Board  does  for  the  ancient  city  of  Aguadilla  what  the  Marina 
Neighborhood  House  does  for  Mayaguez.  Local  conditions 
change  the  nature  of  the  work  somewhat.  Since  Aguadilla  is 
the  center  of  the  native  hand-made  lace  industry,  a  class  in 
lace  making  under  the  direction  of  an  expert  is  one  of  the 
principal  features  of  the  industrial  department.  In  this  class 
the  girls  are  taught  the  art  from  the  very  beginning,  great 
care  being  taken  in  the  exact  nature  of  the  work  and  in  its 
cleanliness.  Many  a  girl,  by  means  of  this  class,  instead  of 
becoming  a  mediocre  lace-maker  has  become  so  gifted  that 
orders  for  her  work  come  from  all  over  the  United  States — 
orders  that  keep  her  busy  from  one  week’s  end  to  the  next. 

Aguadilla,  moreover,  is  the  center  of  the  basket-making  of 
the  Island.  Under  the  auspices  of  the  Neighborhood  House 
there  are  also  classes  in  this  work.  Baskets  of  all  shapes  and 
for  all  purposes  are  made  from  the  native  palm.  The  products 
are  marketed  in  the  States  and  sent  directly  to  the  consumer 
without  the  agency  of  middlemen. 

The  Neighborhood  House  has  a  well  organized  Kinder¬ 
garten  and  Day  Nursery.  There  are  40  children  in  attend¬ 
ance  in  the  former  and  20  in  the  latter.  This  department 
is  situated  in  the  poorest  section  of  the  city  and  is  of  incal¬ 
culable  benefit  to  children  who  otherwise  would  be  running 
wild  in  the  streets  or  accompanying  their  parents  to  some 
tobacco  factory. 

One  of  the  most  distinct  contributions  to  the  city  and  to 
the  missionary  problem  is  the  Dispensary  of  this  Neighbor¬ 
hood  House.  The  municipal  authorities  have  definitely  rec¬ 
ognized  the  worth  of  this  Dispensary.  It  is  conducted  on 
a  plan  by  which  the  municipality  provides  the  physician,  while 
the  Mission  provides  the  nurse  and  equipment.  The  suc¬ 
cess  of  this  arrangement  can  be  judged  by  the  fact  that  the 
people  of  the  town  and  the  municipal  authorities  wish  to 
extend  it  to  include  a  hospital  of  a  hundred  beds. 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


53 


It  need  scarcely  be  added  that  the  Christian  community 
work  of  these  Neighborhood  Houses  not  only  benefits  the 
vicinity  in  which  they  are  located,  but  is  of  immense  help 
to  the  local  churches.  Year  in  and  year  out  these  consecrated 
workers  demonstrate  to  the  Church  the  fundamental  Chris¬ 
tian  virtues  of  patience,  faithfulness,  and  self-sacrificing 
devotion. 

What  Other  Denominations  Are  Doing.  The  Metho¬ 
dist  Episcopal  Church  maintains  the  George  Robinson  Or¬ 
phanage  for  girls  at  San  Juan.  This  institution  was  estab¬ 
lished  in  1902  through  the  generosity  of  Mr.  Robinson.  The 
girls  come  from  the  respectable  poor,  to  whom  the  death  of 
one  or  more  parents  often  means  starvation  or  a  life  of 
shame.  Here  the  girls  are  cared  for,  protected  and  trained 
to  take  up  some  occupation.  Mr.  Robinson  has  also  estab¬ 
lished  an  orphanage  for  boys  on  an  agricultural  school  basis. 
There  are  always  some  30  boys  in  the  orphanage  being  pre¬ 
pared  to  make  their  living  by  farming. 

A  Child  Welfare  Society  is  conducted  at  Santurce  in  con¬ 
nection  with  the  Blanche  Kellogg  Institute  (Congregational). 
The  Society  ministers  to  the  poor  of  the  neighborhood,  par¬ 
ticularly  the  children,  giving  them  medical  service  and  milk, 
either  free  or  at  a  nominal  cost. 

The  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society  has  work¬ 
ers  stationed  at  Ponce,  Saguas,  Rio  Piedras,  Santurce  and 
San  Juan.  These  workers  visit  the  homes  systematically,  con¬ 
ducting  prayer  and  Bible  reading  with  mothers  and  maintain¬ 
ing  industrial  classes  with  the  children. 

The  women  workers  of  the  Lutheran  Church  and  of  the 
Disciples  of  Christ  each  maintain  a  kindergarten  in  the  city 
of  Bayamon.  At  Ponce  a  kindergarten  is  maintained  by  the 
Christian  Church,  which  is  also  establishing  there  an  indus¬ 
trial  work. 

The  United  Brethren  Church,  one  of  the  largest  and  best 
organized  churches  on  the  Island,  conducts  an  efficient  com¬ 
munity  work  at  Ponce. 


54 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


The  Y.  M,  C.  A.  has  a  well  organized  association  in  San 
Juan.  In  1920  it  enrolled  620  members.  It  conducts  physical 
culture,  educational,  social  and  religious  classes.  The  work 
is  very  popular  and  it  is  hoped  that  similar  associations  may 
be  instituted  in  all  the  principal  cities  of  Porto  Rico. 


CHAPTER  VI 


Evangelistic  Missions* 

Distribution  of  Forces.  For  the  work  of  evangelization 
Porto  Rico  is  divided  into  denominational  zones  of  activities. 
At  the  outset  of  Protestant  missionary  work,  each  denomina¬ 
tion  was  assigned  a  portion  of  the  Island  with  the  under¬ 
standing  that  it  would  not  encroach  upon  its  sister  denomi¬ 
nation’s  territory.  While  this  arrangement  did  not  provide 
for  organic  union  of  the  evangelical  forces  it  did  provide  a 
practical  and  economical  basis  of  co-operation,  and  it  pre¬ 
vented  overlapping  and  duplication  of  effort. 

The  American  Missionary.  The  work  of  the  American 
missionary  has  undergone  a  great  change  in  these  twenty  years 
of  occupation.  Porto  Rico  is  an  ideal  example  o'f  “the 
church  increasing  and  the  mission  decreasing.”  In  the  early 
days  the  entire  church  work  was  done  by  the  continental 
missionary.  As  the  work  developed,  it  was  more  and  more 
taken  over  by  the  native  Porto  Rican  ministers.  This  process 
has  been  particularly  marked  during  the  last  five  years.  The 
churches  have  become  increasingly  self-supporting  while  the 
young  Porto  Ricans  who  have  been  graduated  from  the  Semi¬ 
nary  have  proved  themselves  worthy  and  acceptable  leaders 
among  their  own  people. 

The  Porto  Rican  Minister.  The  native  ministry  is  di¬ 
vided  into  two  main  divisions.  First,  the  untrained  but  ex¬ 
perienced  pastors — who  have  worked  by  the  side  of  the  con¬ 
tinental  missionaries  for  some  years,  and  have  received  their 
qualifications  in  the  school  of  hard  knocks.  The  other  the 
trained  pastors — the  younger  element,  many  of  whom  have  not 

*  Limited  space  necessitates  the  confinement  of  this  chapter  to  evangelistic 
work  conducted  in  the  western  section)  of  the  Island,  for  whioh  the  Preisby- 
terdan  Church  is  solely  responsible.  Accounts  of  the  work  oif  other  denomi¬ 
nations  in  their  respective  sections  may  be  had  from  their  denominational 
headquarters. 


56 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


only  received  their  schooling  and  special  training  in  mission¬ 
ary  institutions,  but  have  been  brought  up  from  early  child¬ 
hood  in  the  Church.  Men  of  the  first  type  have  charge  of 
some  of  the  most  important  churches  of  the  Island  and  their 
work  speaks  volumes  of  praise  to  the  early  continental  mis¬ 
sionaries.  By  virtue  of  youth  and  training  the  second  type 
of  worker  is  naturally  coming  to  the  fore  as  the  years  go  by. 
Replacements  in  the  important  fields  are  almost  always  filled 
by  the  young  men  who  have  been  under  the  observation  of 
the  various  churches  and  missions  through  their  boyhood  and 
youth.  Sooner  or  later  this  type  of  minister  will  dominate 
the  situation. 

City  Work.  The  services  of  the  Protestant  churches  in 
the  cities  in  Porto  Rico  are  similar  to  the  services  in  the  cities 
of  the  north — with  one  exception.  There  is  no  difficulty  in 
Porto  Rico  in  getting  people  to  hear  the  Message  for  regu¬ 
lar  services,  and  for  special  services  you  may  be  sure  of  a  full 
church.  It  is  this  phase  of  the  work  that  appeals  mostly  to 
visitors  from  the  north.  They  come  expecting  to  find  in  the 
Protestant  churches  small  groups  of  people  brought  together 
by  all  sorts  of  inducements.  They  are  greatly  surprised  to 
see  the  enthusiasm,  spontaneity,  and  interest  of  the  Porto 
Rican  in  his  church.  Quite  recently  one  of  these  visitors 
attended  the  prayer  meeting  of  a  church  in  an  inland  town 
and  after  the  service  she  said;  “The  Wednesday  before  I 
left  the  States  I  attended  prayer  meeting  at  the  First  Pres¬ 
byterian  Church  of  - ”  (she  mentioned  one  of  the  largest 

suburban  churches  of  New  York).  “I  counted  the  people  and 
there  were  just  the  number  you  have  here  tonight.”  Shortly 
afterward  a  minister  from  a  large  Philadelphia  church  was 
invited  to  preach  in  this  church.  Rather  reluctantly  he  con¬ 
sented  and,  through  an  interpreter,  preached  at  a  Mother’s 
Day  service  to  an  audience  that  crowded  the  church  and  to 
scores  of  people  that  were  packed  around  windows  and  doors. 
Speaking  of  it  afterward  he  exclaimed,  “What  a  wonderful 
experience  it  was.  It  was  the  opportunity  of  a  lifetime.” 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


57 


Country  Work.  The  greatest  influence  of  the  evangelical 
churches  in  Porto  Rico  is  in  the  country.  It  is  among  the 
people  of  the  rural  sections,  who  form  80%  of  the  popula¬ 
tion,  that  the  Protestant  churches  have  rendered  greatest  ser¬ 
vice  and  have  found  their  greatest  opportunity. 

The  country  work  is  organized  with  the  ideal  of  giving  every 
inhabitant  of  the  Island  an  opportunity  of  hearing  the  Gospel 
periodically.  Many  preachers  make  itineraries  of  several  days’ 
duration,  visiting  homes  during  the  day  and  conducting  ser¬ 
vices  at  night  at  some  central  house.  From  the  seed  sown  in 
this  manner  come  surprising  harvests.  The  preacher  is  almost 
certain  to  be  invited  to  repeat  his  visit  and  frequently  a  per¬ 
manent  preaching  point  results. 

The  country  services  of  the  evangelical  churches  are  the 
only  opportunity  for  worship  the  jibaro  or  peasant  has.  In 
many  instances  people  walk  over  ten  miles  each  week  across 
mountain  and  stream  to  some  preaching  center.  Occasionally 
an  incident  like  the  following  cheers  the  heart  of  a  pastor. 
At  Sabbath  school  in  town  Sunday  morning  the  minister 
was  surprised  to  see  a  man  who  for  some  time  had  been 
attending  every  meeting  that  had  been  held  at  a  backwoods 
place  some  fifteen  miles  away.  Barefooted  he  had  walked  this 
distance  over  mountainous  paths  and  across  raging  rivers.  He 
had  come  to  ask  the  missionary  to  establish  a  permanent 
preaching  point  at  his  home,  and  to  offer  himself  for  mem¬ 
bership  in  the  church.  With  such  demonstration  as  this  to 
prove  the  sincerity  of  his  profession  of  faith  he  was  received. 
Today  he  is  a  church  officer,  acting  as  an  under-shepherd  to 
a  little  band  of  Christians  in  that  mountain  recess. 

The  cottage  service  is  very  popular,  and  often  is  the  only 
kind  of  service  that  can  be  had.  With  his  customary  gen¬ 
erosity  the  Porto  Rican  will  offer  the  use  of  his  house  for 
“los  protestantes”  even  though  he  is  not  a  believer.  There 
are  some  distinct  advantages  to  this  plan — chiefly  the  intimate 
contact  one  gets  with  the  people  and  their  problems.  In  this 
balmy  land  the  open  air  service  is  much  used.  It  is  inspiring 


58 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


to  attend  an  evangelistic  service  conducted  at  some  plantation 
on  the  large  concrete  drying  floor. 

In  pioneer  work  such  as  this  there  is  practically  no  physical 
equipment.  It  is  a  clear  demonstration  of  the  power  of  the 
simple  Gospel.  Some  of  the  workers  are  using  the  stereop- 
ticon.  This  makes  a  forceful  method  of  presenting  religious 
truth,  specially  in  the  opening  of  new  work. 

Church  Membership.  Church  membership  in  Porto  Rico 
is  a  more  direct  severance  from  the  former  life  than  it  is  in 
most  places  on  the  continent.  In  only  a  very  few  cases  is  it 
the  result  of  a  childhood  where  church  and  home  have  united 
to  make  church  membership  a  natural  step  in  the  development 
of  the  individual.  It  is  about  as  opposite  a  thing  to  the 
nominal  adherence  to  the  Catholic  Church  through  infant  bap¬ 
tism  as  could  be  imagined.  The  preparation  for  Protestant 
membership  differs  in  form  as  the  denominations  differ  in 
creed  and  custom.  All,  however,  agree  in  spirit.  Churches 
with  the  Methodist  form  of  government  find  their  period  of 
probation  very  effective  in  Porto  Rico.  Other  churches  have 
their  catechumen  classes  which  last  from  three  to  six  months. 

The  influence  of  the  evangelical  churches  is  not  confined 
to  their  members.  There  are  on  every  hand  those  people  who 
attend  the  services  regularly,  who  call  themselves  Protestants, 
but  do  not  unite  with  the  church.  Taking  these  facts  into 
consideration  an  estimate  was  made  about  a  year  ago  based 
on  an  extensive  survey.  It  gave  Protestant  population  of 
Porto  Rico  as  12%  of  the  entire  population.  This  does  not 
include  such  organizations  as  the  Free  Masons  and  Free 
Thinkers  and  a  host  of  indifferents  who,  because  of  their 
anti-catholic  attitude,  are  much  more  sympathetic  with  the 
Evangelical  point  of  view  than  with  the  Roman  Catholic. 

Self-Support.  The  phase  that  has  most  encouraged  the 
workers  on  the  field  and  the  contributing  Boards  and  Socie¬ 
ties  has  been  the  distinct  advance  made  toward  self-support 
by  the  different  churches.  Of  course  a  church  independent  of 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


59 


outside  financial  support  and  direction  has  been  the  ideal  ever 
since  the  work  began. 

Most  of  the  stronger  denominations  have  programs  and 
schedules  arranged  that  will  render  the  present  organized 
churches  free  from  outside  support  in  ten,  fifteen,  or  twenty 
years.  There  will  be  a  need  for  missionary  work  in  Porto 
Rico  for  many  generations  to  come  but  it  is  hoped,  particu¬ 
larly  by  the  native  worker,  that  the  native  church  will  soon 
demonstrate  its  ability  to  conduct  its  own  aflfairs. 

One  of  the  greatest  aids  to  this  end  is  the  essentially  patri¬ 
otic  spirit  of  the  Porto  Rican.  “El  Sosten  Propio” — self  sup¬ 
port — has  come  to  be  the  slogan  at  every  denominational  and 
interdenominational  gathering. 

The  Strategic  Value  of  Porto  Rico.  Even  before  self- 
support  is  reached  the  Protestant  Christians  of  Porto  Rico 
are  looking  toward  the  service  which  they  in  turn  hope  to 
render  to  their  less  fortunate  neighbors.  For  within  a  radius 
of  1,500  miles,  lie  the  Central  American  States,  and  Hayti, 
Santo  Domingo,  Venezuela,  Colombia  and  Brazil.  Within 
these  countries  are  literally  millions  of  human  beings  whose 
need  for  education,  health,  and  the  inspiration  of  a  vital  reli¬ 
gion  is  vast  and  urgent.  These  people  are  also  Latins  and  the 
Porto  Ricans  for  that  reason  have  a  unique  opportunity  as 
well  as  a  responsibility  to  pass  on  to  them  in  turn  the  bless¬ 
ings  they  have  received  from  Protestant  Missions.  The  num¬ 
ber  of  calls  for  help  are  increasing  as  the  years  go  by.  The 
most  insistent  of  these  calls  just  now  and  the  one  that  con¬ 
stitutes  a  veritable  cry  from  Macedonia  is  from  the  little 
Republic  of  Santo  Domingo.  Since  the  American  occupation 
of  this  Island  Republic  and  the  opening  of  American  indus¬ 
tries,  Porto  Ricans  by  the  thousands  have  crossed  the  narrow 
Mona  Channel  to  make  their  livelihood.  A  large  number 
of  members  of  the  different  evangelical  churches  were  among 
the  emigrants.  These  folk  missed  their  church  homes.  At 
a  big  sugar  center  several  of  them  organized  a  Protestant 
Church  which  is  today  fighting  the  fight  of  all  infants  for 


60 


TWENTY  YEARS  IN  PORTO  RICO 


survival.  It  is  appealing  to  the  Protestant  Churches  of  Porto 
Rico  to  help  it  in  the  struggle.  And  the  Protestant  Churches 
of  Porto  Rico  are  sending  what  aid  they  can  in  money  and 
men.  So  it  is  that  the  Gospel  is  spread ;  so  it  is  that  the 
leaven  of  the  Kingdom  works. 


i-*  . 


Sv.  ;  ■ 


> 


AH 


